Family Portraits
by happy45
Summary: Never did Brett think she'd be here. Never did she think she'd find her Casey in Casey, yet here she was, blissfully in love and with a perfect family by her side. Brettsey one-shot series.
1. Hot Summer's Day

_Hi everyone! I've been loving the Brettsey content on this site recently, so I figured why not add some more to it?_

_This is a random little Brettsey oneshot that I pulled together... considering making this story into a series of Brettsey oneshots, so let me know what you think!!_

_Be sure to check out my previous Brettsey oneshot if you already haven't!_

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**1\. Hot Summer's Day**

It was a hot summer's day in Chicago and the squad's shift was about to begin. The hottest days were often the worst to be working on. Their gear just felt ridiculously uncomfortable and there was little they could do about it, but there was something else that Matt Casey knew would make the day even more uncomfortable for everybody.

He rushed through the door of Firehouse 51 and into the lounge, relieved to see that everyone was already there getting their breakfast.

"Guys, listen up, I need to make this fast" he said as he quickly looked over his shoulder and everyone looked at him, completely confused. "Sylvie is about to walk through the door and uh - she isn't taking this heat well." He explained as everybody gulped.

"How so?" Foster asked quietly, knowing that a storm was brewing.

"You know she's been uncomfortable anyway for the past few weeks but it's really hitting home today and she's uh - she's really not in the best of moods..." Matt warned. "You're all going to take some hits. Some brutal, _personal_ hits... but please remember the kind and sweet Sylvie that you all love so much is still in there and that it's the heat and the hormones talking. Just - be tolerant. _Please_." He practically begged as everyone nodded their heads with uncertainty. None of them were entirely sure what storm would be coming their way.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Brett waddled into the lounge with a deep scowl on her face.

"Matthew Casey" she began as she dropped her bags and put her hands on her hips. "Is there a reason that you left me to get out of your damn truck and lift my bags by myself?"

"I uh - I just wanted to make sure there was a space for you on the sofa, just to make you comfortable -" Matt said, stumbling over his words.

"Uh yeah, cause that's what I freaking deserve and it's damn impossible to achieve!" She exclaimed as she wandered over to the sofa and awkwardly lowered herself down on it and rested her hand on her protruding belly.

When Brett and Casey discovered they were having a baby, they were completely and utterly over the moon. Nothing had felt more right and timing finally seemed to be on their side. They had been married for 2 years and together for 4. At first, Brett loved being pregnant. She had a real glow about her and sweet Sylvie somehow became ever sweeter.

But then - the morning sickness kicked in. She thought she'd escaped it but no - it appeared it was a late start. She was constantly chucking her insides out and it stopped her from doing her job, resulting on her being put on desk duty a lot sooner than anticipated. That was step one in the disappearance of sweet Sylvie Brett.

Step two was when they went for their 10 week scan and found out they were having twins. It was a shock, they were excited but also freaked. Two babies was a lot. Plus, Sylvie felt like she was growing at an alarmingly fast rate and the day she couldn't see her toes anymore was the day her mood deteriorated significantly. She loved that her babies were growing inside of her. It was fulfilling and exciting - but she missed her toes. She missed being able to get off the sofa by herself and not having Casey constantly having to pull her to her feet. She missed being able to tie her shoelaces by herself. She missed the simplest little things.

Step three came when the heat wave hit. Sylvie was 2 days away from her due date, but a part of her was convinced she would be pregnant for an eternity. She was beyond uncomfortable and hot and outrageously big and she was just fed up with being pregnant. She needed these babies out of her ASAP.

Casey wanted more than anything to relieve her discomfort. He hated seeing her so miserable and he missed her sweetness - but he knew it would be entirely worth it when their babies got here. Casey was also feeling a little uncomfortable - but for entirely different reasons. Brett had the air conditioning on full blast in their house, meaning Casey was freezing and went to bed every night with a coat and gloves on. He couldn't understand how Sylvie would lie beside him in her underwear, the duvet completely discarded. A pregnant woman's body truly was a remarkable thing. Plus there was the fact that Syvlie's bad mood was often taken out on him - but he took the hits cause he knew she didn't mean it. It was normally incredibly stupid things like telling him his hair was a total mess.

Since Brett had been in a particularly foul mood today, Casey knew he had to warn their colleagues. They'd already witnessed a few of her bad moods, but he knew they wouldn't have witnessed anything like this before. Matt had suggested she stay at home considering her maternity leave had started, but no. Brett insisted on coming in and bothering everyone at 51 instead.

"My god it's so hot!" Sylvie exclaimed as Stella quickly brought her a cold drink. "I didn't sign up for this. I signed up for the sweet miracle of life. The pregnancy glow. This - this is what hell must feel like and I am being tested. These babies owe me. Big time."

Nobody really knew what to say to Brett. They were scared they would somehow bother her further.

"That's great Cruz, breathe a little louder why don't you?" Sylvie suddenly snapped as Cruz looked up from his newspaper confused. He was sitting in the opposite end of the room. Somehow she now had supersonic hearing?

Before anything else could be said, the bells for a call went and everybody rushed out.

"Oh don't mind me, I'll be fine right here, pregnant and miserable!" She shouted as Ritter through her a bag of ice on his way past. "Now this is the kind of TLC I need, Matt Casey take note" Brett said as she put her feet up, opened the bag and began sucking on the ice chips.

"You're doing great baby, I love you!" Matt said as encouragingly as he could before he rushed out the door, secretly thankful for what he was calling a break.

* * *

In the time that they were gone, Brett's mood hadn't changed. When they came wandering back in a few hours later, Brett had greeted them from the same position on the sofa.

_"Yep, you guessed it, still pregnant!"_

_"Is drugging pregnant women frowned upon?" _Capp had grumbled. They all contemplated it for a moment, but soon realised they were being ridiculous.

That night after getting home, Brett had run herself a cold bath in an attempt to cool her down even in the slightest bit. As she lay surrounded by bubbles and her bump protruding over the top of the water, her mood had somehow changed from grumpy to deflated. She hated what this was doing to her. She wasn't sweet Syvlie Brett anymore. She felt like a crazy person. She wanted to be able to enjoy her pregnancy but this heat just wasn't letting her.

She heard Matt come in to the bedroom after his evening run and waited for him to walk in to their ensuite. Normally, she would have called him in immediately to help her get out of this damn bath, but not tonight. He probably needed his space. Soon enough, however, he appeared in the doorway and leaned against the frame.

"Hi" he greeted with a quiet and amused smile. Since she hadn't called for him the moment he walked through the door, he figured her mood had maybe changed a little since earlier. Even just looking at her now she appeared calmer.

"Hi" she replied quietly. "I'm sorry" she apologised.

"For what?"

"Being an ass..." he grumbled.

Matt smirked and sat down beside the bath, reaching in and taking her hand. "You are not being an ass. You're uncomfortable and I know it's not an easy thing to deal with... I cannot tell you how much I love you and admire you for how you've handled yourself for the past 9 months" he told her as he ran his thumb over her hand. "Yeah, you've had some tough days..." he said as Brett scoffed. Everyday felt like a tough day. "But you're housing two humans in there. That's not an easy thing to do and I know all of this will be entirely worth it once we meet our babies." He encouraged.

Brett looked at him for a brief moment before bursting into tears. Matt sprung to his knees, alarmed by her actions.

"Wow, what's wrong?" He asked.

"You always know the right thing to say!" He exclaimed through her tears as Matt furrowed his eyebrows.

"And that's a problem...?" He asked, raising his voice at the end as if he was asking a question.

"NO, it's just so _you_ and I love you so much for it and my hormones are all over the place and I want nothing more than for someone to massage my stomach because they won't stop kicking my pelvis and I need something else for them to fight against!" Brett rambled as she tried to control her tears.

Casey let out a laugh and ran his hand over her hair before sighing, "I guess we better give you that massage then" he said before standing up, stripping down and climbing into the bath behind her.

"What are you doing?! It's freezing in here" she warned as he let out a light hiss and the temperature, but persisted none the less.

"I have walked through fires, I think I can deal with a little cold..." he said as she positioned herself comfortably between his legs.

Casey kissed down Brett's exposed ear and neck as his hands ran over her stomach to find where the babies were kicking. Once he felt the pressure against his hands, he gently rubbed up and down and soon enough, the kicking subsided.

"I haven't felt this comfortable in a long time" Brett said quietly as Casey smiled against her temple.

"I'm glad" he replied as Brett relaxed further against him. They managed to stay like that for a solid 7 minutes before Sylvie sat up and yelped

"_OW_!" she exclaimed as she grabbed onto her stomach.

"What? What happened?" Casey asked desperately.

"I uh... I think I just had a contraction" Brett said through her teeth as she felt another one hit her.

"It's happening? Now? Right now?"

Brett rolled her eyes, "No Casey I'm pretending to be in this much pain because discomfort is all I have known for the past 9 months!" She snarked

Apparently it had been too much to ask for just 10 minutes of comfort. Apparently it had also been too much to ask for an straight forward labour. 36 hours after her bath, two screaming yet perfect baby boys came into the world.

Jack Boden Casey and Elliot Otis Casey were more amazing than either Brett or Casey could have imagined. In an instant, all the discomfort and pain had been forgotten when they looked at their baby boys. Nothing else mattered and Brett easily knew this was the best thing she had ever done, and she would look back on her pregnancy with fond memories, because it enable her to welcome her boys into this world.

She was just about ready to bring sweet Sylvie back into the world and everybody was just about ready to welcome her back. Pregnancy had changed her - but definitely for the food. She knew Jack and Elliot Casey would always have her wrapped around their little fingers and she was excited to watch them grow and take on the world.

Besides, a little discomfort never hurt anybody.


	2. Family Shows Up

**2\. Family Shows Up**

Sylvie closed her eyes and slowly rubbed her temples, her elbows digging into her thighs, holding her head up. Her 2 month old son's cries filled the house and her resilience in dealing it was breaking.

"You know – we get babies left at the firehouse occasionally." She heard her husband say as he walked into their bedroom, desperately trying to sooth Jack to sleep. "We make sure they're in good hands, I'm sure someone would take him, he's very cute" he joked. It was the only thing he could do right now to ensure they didn't lose their minds. It appeared that the honeymoon period with their babies was over. The first month and a bit had been bliss. They had a near perfect routine, the boys rarely made a noise and all was well. But then something clicked. The boys discovered their lungs and it was like they were testing them out to see how loud they could scream.

Sylvie stood from the bed and walked towards Matt and Jack. "The fact that he's so cute is what makes me want to keep him…" she joked back as she ran her hand over her baby's fair hair. She briefly looked up at the clock on the wall and moaned. "How is it only 9pm? It feels so much later."

"It feels later because we've been at this for almost 3 hours." Matt grumbled as he shifted Jack in his arms so he was now resting against his shoulder. "As soon as we get one of them down…"

"The other starts wailing I know…" Sylvie said with a sigh. Elliot had been the first to fall asleep and then eventually Jack went down, but after 5 whole minutes of silence, Elliot started crying and the cycle had repeated itself 3 times now. "They're stronger than us Matt. They're going to break us."

"We can't think like that… we're resilient. We've battled through fires and everything in between, we can handle two babies." He said confidently.

Sylvie quirked an eyebrow, "You went out for milk this morning Matt… and returned 2 hours later because you fell asleep in the car. You're weak._ I _am weak."

"We are not weak." Matt insisted. He looked down at Jack and sighed. "He must be hungry – my nipples are of no use to him" he said as he held Jack out to her and she took him. She walked towards the door to go and feed him downstairs, but before she left she turned back and glared at Matt.

"If I come back here and find you asleep – we're going to have a problem." Sylvie warned as Matt gulped. If she was going to suffer through sleepless nights, so was he.

"Yes ma'am…"

"Shut up…"

Once Sylvie had left the room, Matt decided that it wouldn't do anybody any harm if he just lay down for 5 minutes… honestly, he needed to be on his best form to deal with two screaming babies throughout the night. He lay down and closed his eyes… for around 30 seconds and then Elliot's screams filled the room.

Matt groaned and got up, walking into his son's room. He looked down at Elliot and gave him a tight-lipped smile, "How can two babies hate sleep so much? It's all you're supposed to want to do" he cooed down at him as Elliot's tears started to subside once he saw his father's face peering down at him.

Matt was suddenly struck with an idea. "Sylvie?" He called as he heard her delicate footsteps come up the stairs and into the room.

"Yeah?"

"I have an idea" he said. "Get the boys dressed"

"You're not seriously wanting to take them out right now are you?" Sylvie questioned.

"People love babies. Better yet, they love babies that they can give back to the parents once they've had a cuddle. They're freakin adorable and our babies are _extra_ freakin adorable." Matt reasoned as he lifted Elliot up and took him over to the changing table to change his diaper and put him in a fresh onesie.

"I mean – you're absolutely right, but what does that have to do with getting them to sleep?" Sylvie asked as she too changed Jack into a fresh onesie.

"Elliot and Jack's problem is that they hate being put down. They're attention hoggers, it's a classic baby trait. We need to find some people to give them the attention they crave – then they'll fall straight to sleep." Matt theorised.

Sylvie quirked an eyebrow. He was maybe on to something. "You know some people?"

Matt smirked, "I think I might."

* * *

_"Oh my god. You two did not bring your babies to a bar."_

Sylvie and Matt gave Stella tight-lipped smiles as they walked into Molly's, each with a baby strapped to their chest.

"I mean, no judgement here Captain…" Stella quickly added on.

"Did you really miss us that much?" Mouch asked as he patted Matt on the shoulder teasingly.

"Oh we just thought that you guys might like to see these two sleeping angels." Sylvie told them.

"Oo, please, give him to me!" Foster said as she lightly clapped her hands and rushed over to Sylvie, who gladly lifted Elliot out of his strap and handed him to Emily before disappearing to sit down at a table. She instantly set her head down on the table.

Severide smirked, seeing straight through Matt and Sylvie's reasoning for being here. They clearly just wanted 10 minutes of peace. He'd never seen two people so enamoured by their babies before, but the reality of parenting was hitting them hard.

"I think Jack needs to spend some quality time with his Uncle Sev" Severide said as Casey handed Jack over to him.

"Don't corrupt him." Matt warned.

Severide shrugged, "It's just guy stuff, don't worry about it…" he teased as Matt went to sit opposite Sylvie, resting his head on the table beside hers.

Stella looked over Severide's shoulder at Jack as he slept peacefully in his arms, "Family shows up for family huh?" Stella asked.

"Oh yeah" Severide said with a little laugh. "Something tells me we'll always show up for our two littlest members."

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**If you have any one-shot requests please send them my way! **


	3. Parental Guilt

**Thank you to everyone who posted suggestions! I read them and I'm working on them so stay tuned. If you have any more please just comment in the reviews box!**

**For now, Brett suffers a little parental guilt and as usual – Casey makes her feel ten times better.**

**Enjoy!**

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**3\. Parental Guilt **

"_I can't do it."_ Brett stated as she stared down at her perfect baby boys as they lay side by side in their bassinets.

"Yes, you can." Casey encouraged as he tried to hand her her coat, but she swatted him away.

"They're still so _tiny,_ I can't just abandon them!" Brett exclaimed as she smiled and waved down at her boys, causing them to smile back up at her. Jack and Elliot had just hit 4 months old and Brett decided it was time she got back to work. She loved being at home with her boys more than anything, but she also really missed her job. She didn't feel like she had to sacrifice one for the other. She could be an amazing mom while still serving this city in what she considered to be the best job in the world.

This didn't mean, however, that she wouldn't seriously miss being at home. The boys were finally in a good sleep pattern and their little personalities were starting to show. Jack was without a doubt the loud, boisterous twin. Casey and Brett figured they would have their hands full with him as he got older. There was just a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Elliot was a lot calmer. He was a very sweet little boy who was very attached to his brother. Any time they weren't near one another, he would cry and cry until he could see Jack again. It was the cutest thing in the world. They supposed they had spent 9 months in a cramped space together. It was bound to create a bond.

"What if they need me?" Brett asked as she finally turned around to look at Casey.

"The nanny will call if there's a problem" Matt told her calmly. They'd interviewed a dozen nannies and they knew they'd found the perfect fit. She was truly amazing with them, but it still didn't bring much comfort to Sylvie.

"What if she can't tell them apart?"

"… they're not identical babe." Matt reminded her. Yeah, they looked _similar,_ they were brothers after all, but they were fraternal twins. Elliot's hair was a little darker than Jack's and Jack had a little mole on his neck that Elliot didn't have for starters.

"I just don't want them to hate me." Brett said sadly as she turned around and looked down at them again. She couldn't help but feel guilty about doing this. She didn't want her boys to grow up feeling like their mother prioritised her job over being with them.

Casey wrapped his arms around Brett's shoulders from behind and kissed the side of her head, "How can they resent you when they feel your love every time you are with them?" he asked quietly as Brett leaned back against him with a light sigh. "I get it. I felt the guilt too" Matt sympathised. He'd been back at work for a lot longer, having only taken 4 weeks off to get things settled at home and he felt guilt going back. He felt like he was leaving Sylvie to do everything, so he tried to do everything he could when he was home. "But as they grow up, they're going to learn about your job and they're going to see all the good that you do in this world and they're going to admire you and respect you for it. I promise you that."

"Right back at you Captain" Brett responded quietly as she turned her head and Matt brushed his nose against hers affectionately. Brett knew that their boys were going to grow up and see their dad as their firefighting hero. How could they not?

"Now come on… let's go fight some fires." He said as she finally took her coat from him, kissed her babies goodbye and left them in the very capable hands of their nanny.

* * *

When shift was over, Sylvie sat patiently in the lounge waiting for Matt to finish up his paperwork so they could go home. She was starting to get antsy and was wondering what was taking him so long. Everyone else had gone. She knew Matt was desperate to get home to the boys, so what was taking him so long?

She stormed out of the lounge and round to Casey's quarters, just as he walked out the door.

"Matt, where have you been, I—" she began before looking down to see a baby in Casey's arms. Not just any baby of course – her baby.

"Elliot" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here baby?" she cooed in confusion as she ran her finger over his smooth cheek.

Casey smirked, "This was supposed to be a little surprise… but you said you worried about leaving the boys here and going to your job and them feeling like you abandoned them and I've been thinking about it all day. It didn't take me long to realise that it should never feel like one or the other. This is your family too. This is like our second home… and will always be a home to the boys too." He said as Sylvie smiled in wonder at him. He always had a solution to her problems. He always knew exactly what do and exactly what to say. "So I called Joanna" He said, referring to their nanny "and had her bring the boys down her for their first official tour. Severide has Jack, he insisted on giving him the full run down on the squad, but he wanted to do it separately… apparently you take more in on a one-on-one - even babies." Casey said with a snort as Sylvie laughed.

"Starting them young, huh?"

"Oh yeah…" Casey said as he looked down at Elliot who was staring back up at him with eyes full of wonder. "This little dude on the other hand is just dying to know all about truck 81" he said happily as he kissed his son's head. "Baby smell… just the best" Casey said as he quickly kissed Sylvie and began walking away with Elliot. He talked away to him all about firefighting as if the baby could understand, but it surprisingly brought so much comfort to Sylvie. They could combine the two things they loved most in this world – their jobs and their family. There was no need to feel guilt, there was no need to worry. Their boys would always be surrounded by love and the best role models in the world.

What more could she ever want for her boys?


	4. I See Home

**This is based around a request from a review – a patient gets rough with Brett on a call and Casey steps in. This is set before the twins were born.**

**I hope you enjoy! Please send anymore prompts my way :)**

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**4\. I See Home**

Sylvie sat impatiently on the lid of the toilet, her leg tapping relentlessly as she stared down at the white stick in her hand. She was starting to think she just wasn't meant to be mother. She knew these things took time and she had to be patient, but she just had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that it wasn't meant to be. She kept trying to tell herself that it was ok, but it was something she wanted more than anything on this planet. It was something she knew her husband wanted more than anything too.

"This is pointless" Sylvie said quietly to Matt as he stood in the doorway of their bathroom, waiting to see what the stick said. Sylvie had woken up feeling pretty sick so she figured what harm could it do to take a test? She also wasn't about to do it on her own. She knew this was something she and Matt needed to find out about together.

"These things take time babe. You can't just expect to have sex one time and then pop out a baby" he said with a little laugh that Sylvie couldn't help but reciprocate.

"I know, I know…" she insisted. But they didn't just have sex one time. They'd been trying for a few months now and they didn't appear to be having any luck.

They'd been married for a year when they decided to start trying for a baby. It was their anniversary and they had just decided to spend the whole day in bed to celebrate. They didn't get many days like that. Sylvie had been staring at Matt while he tried to pick a movie to watch on all the millions of streaming services Sylvie insisted they buy subscriptions to. His eyebrows were furrowed in frustration as he couldn't find anything that seemed even remotely interesting. Sylvie couldn't help but smile and think that their babies would be so cute with his furrowed brow.

They'd talked about kids before. It was something they both wanted, but they also wanted to enjoy being married first. Matt had told Sylvie that the moment she was ready, he would be ready too. It was something he had been ready for for a long time. Sylvie couldn't be more grateful to not feel rushed about it. She was also grateful to actually be on the same page as someone she loved. It had never been that way for her. Everything was just so smooth with Matt and she realised that that was exactly how love should be. You shouldn't have to jump through a hundred hoops to be happy.

_"Dammit"_ Matt had grumbled as he moved towards the end of the bed as the remote started to glitch. He started banging it against his hand as if that was actually going to help.

_"Let's have a baby"_ Sylvie had said quietly.

_"What's that babe?_" Matt had replied, which in hindsight truly made Sylvie laugh. She dropped the baby bomb on him and he hadn't even been paying attention.

_"I said…"_ she began as she too moved to the end of the bed, took the remote off him and rested her arm over his shoulder. _"Let's have a baby"_

Matt's head shot around as he looked at his wife who was perched on her knees beside him. _"A baby?"_

Sylvie nodded, _"Yeah… I don't know what is it but I just feel like this is our time. I want to have lots of blonde haired, blue eyed, furrowed eyebrowed babies and I want to start now"_ she said with a little laugh.

Matt smiled widely and looked at her with such wonder. It had been a long time since he'd ever felt so sure about something. He often thought about the fact that he'd never been able to have kids with Gabby. While it was something he looked back on with some degree of sadness, he couldn't help but feel like it was because Sylvie was meant to be the mother of his children. Gabby was a great love – but Sylvie was his forever.

_"Well… I guess we better get started then."_ He said as he swiftly turned and pulled Sylvie beneath him causing her to squeal and laugh in delight and surprise.

Now here they were, three months later and Sylvie was frustrated. She'd peed on countless sticks and she was just tired. She knew three months may not seem like long to some, but it felt long to her.

"… one line." She said quietly as the not pregnant sign flashed on the stick.

Matt quietly nodded, not really knowing what to say. Sylvie tossed the stick in the trash and stood up.

"It's ok." She said, trying to stay her normal, positive self and look for the good despite how she was feeling. "Next time" she said with a weak smile as she kissed Matt on the cheek and left the bathroom. "Oh!" she suddenly remembered as she took a step back. "I said I would meet Foster before work to do some inventory stuff, so I'll see you there?" she said.

He nodded in response, "Yeah, see you there."

Sylvie smiled at him, "I love you Matt Casey. Very much." She knew this was getting a little taxing on him too and they needed to support one another.

He couldn't help but smile back. Even in his disappointment his love for her was overwhelming. That was how he knew they would be ok even if this baby stuff didn't work out. They could be immensely happy with just each other.

"I love you too."

As Sylvie left, Matt looked back down at the trash can and the stick that lay on top of it. He was about to walk away – but then he did a double take. He squinted his eyes and studied the stick carefully. He felt like he must be seeing things. He bent down and picked up the stick and his mouth fell open.

Two lines. There were two lines there. Sylvie had misread the stick. She was pregnant. Oh my _god _she was _pregnant._

"Sylvie!" he immediately called, but she had already left the house.

He quickly gathered his things and rushed to the station to talk to her. Once he got there, he was swiftly taken away by Boden who needed to discuss some firehouse business immediately. He was growing more and more agitated and just as he was released from the meeting – the alarms went off and they were all called to an emergency. He watched as Sylvie jumped into the ambulance with Foster and sped away. He felt his anxiety increase slightly. He had no idea what they were about to walk in to. It could be dangerous, and Sylvie was going in not knowing some vital information about her own body.

Once they arrived at the scene, they swiftly worked to get everyone out of an apartment building following a huge fire. As soon as Matt rescued the last victim, he immediately looked around for Sylvie to make sure she was ok. He knew she could handle herself perfectly well. She was a bold and brilliant and capable person, but that didn't mean he didn't worry about her, just like he knew she worried about him.

He started walking towards her just as the patient she was tending to started to kick up a fuss.

"Sir, I need you to lie back down, we need to take you to Chicago Med—"

"There's nothing wrong with me!" he protested as Sylvie tried to push him back down and Matt quickened his pace in her direction.

"Sir you inhaled a lot of smoke and you look like you've broken your ankle—" Sylvie tired to explain calmly.

"Get your hands off me!" he shouted as he violently shoved her away from him and she fell to the ground.

_"HEY!"_ Matt shouted as he rushed over and held the man down. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Matt—" Sylvie began as she got to her feet.

"Every single person here is here to save you life and the lives of the people around you, we're not keeping you here out of badness so how about you listen to what these trained professionals have to say, huh?" Matt told him sternly as Sylvie looked at him, a little surprised by his reaction. He'd seen patients get rough with her before, but this was the first time he'd really reacted quiet badly to it. "No one shoves my paramedics around, you got that? You touch her again, you'll be facing assault charges."

The man lay back down and Matt briefly glanced up at Sylvie. He looked her up and down and saw that she was ok before turning back around to help with the clean up. He wanted more than anything to scream from the rooftops that she was pregnant, but he knew now wasn't the moment. Sylvie watched him walk away for a few seconds before Emily brought her back around.

"Hey partner – you ok?" she asked as she followed Sylvie's eyeline towards Casey.

"Yeah. Fine. Let's get to med" Sylvie said as they loaded the finally calm man onto the back of the ambulance.

* * *

When everyone got back to the station, they quickly went to get themselves cleaned up for some lunch. It had been an insane morning and they were all starving by this stage. When Sylvie went into the lounge, she instantly noted that Matt wasn't there.

"Severide" she called as Kelly looked up at her from the table. "Have you seen Matt?"

Kelly shook his head, "Probably his office. He was a little worked up about something, probably needed to cool off."

Sylvie nodded her head, knowing all too well how worked up Matt got. She left the lounge and stormed round to Matt's sleeping quarters to try and get some answers. As she got the door, she saw him standing looking out of the window.

"Hey" she greeted a little more aggressively than she'd meant. "You want to tell me what all of that was about today?" she asked. "Because – you've seen patients get rough with me before and you have never acted like you did today. You've always trusted that I could handle myself, but for some reason you thought I was incapable of doing that today!"

"That's not what I thought" he said as he kept looking out the window. "I just wanted to protect you."

"From what? I was pushed to the ground, really quite lightly, the guy was incredibly weak from the fire. I have a grazed elbow – that's it. There was nothing to protect me from—"

"I want to protect both of you." He said cryptically.

Sylvie raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about? Both of who?"

Matt finally turned around and looked at her with a little smile on his face. Sylvie crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow, "Ok… what am I missing?" she asked, feeling her bad mood shift all because of the little smile on his face.

"I have been trying to think all day how to tell you this. I thought about doing something special and memorable… but I think right here is just fine." He said as he reached into his back pocket and lifted out Sylvie's discarded pregnancy test from this morning.

"Is that my test from this morning?" she asked quietly.

Matt nodded, "Yeah… turns out you tossed it away a little too soon because there are two very clear lines on this test" he said, his smile widening as Sylvie looked at him in complete shock, her eyes filling with tears.

"It's positive?" she asked in a whisper as she rested her hand on her chest.

Matt nodded, "It's positive. So when that guy pushed you to the ground I panicked… I panicked because you're having a baby Sylvie and if something had have happened to either of you."

"We're—we're having a baby." Sylvie said, almost in disbelief.

Matt walked towards her and rested his hands on her cheeks. She bent her head forward and he smiled against her forehead before delicately kissing it.

"We're having a baby… a bright, no doubt blue eyed baby, with my furrowed brows" he said as Sylvie let out a little laugh as she finally looked up at him. He wiped away a stray tear that fell from her eye with his thumb.

"Are you happy?" she asked in a whisper.

"I don't think I've ever been happier. Loving you and starting a family with you is the greatest joy I have ever felt." He told her as Sylvie smiled up at him. "You are my dream Sylvie Brett… and that dream just got that little bit brighter."

Sylvie snuggled her head into his chest as he hugged her tightly.

"I didn't realise that a person could ever feel like home. You feel like home Matt Casey and I love you so much… _dad."_ She teased as she smiled at Matt's deep chuckle radiated through her.

Matt knew exactly what she meant. Every time he held her or heard her voice or just saw her across a room – he knew that he was home. Now their home was getting that little bit bigger – and they couldn't be more excited.


	5. Inquisitive Minds

**5\. Inquisitive Minds **

Four-year olds Jack and Elliot Casey peaked over the back of the sofa at their mother as she prepared their lunch in the kitchen. They had to ask her something. Something _very_ important. Something _very _serious and they wanted to make sure they did it right. So, they watched all morning, just waiting for the right opportunity to ask, but it never came.

Sylvie had also been watching. She and Matt had noticed from the moment the boys woke up they were quieter than usual. Something was off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what. While Elliot could be pretty quiet at the best of times, Jack was constantly swinging from the roof and it didn't take much to drag Elliot into his mischief. When Matt left for a contracting job, Sylvie promised she would get to the bottom of it.

"Are you boys _spying_ on me?" Sylvie asked, not even lifting her head from the food in front of her as the boys quickly ducked behind the sofa again.

She heard them mumbling to each other, although most of it was incoherent, she managed to suss out a few sentences.

"_You do it!" "No you do it, it was your question!" "You wanted to know too!" "You're stupid!" "No you're stupid!"_

She was also certain she'd heard a few thumps being thrown in there, but she figured this was something they needed to sort out themselves. She eventually heard Jack sigh and get off the couch.

"_Fine…"_ he said as he walked over to Sylvie with Elliot in tow. "Momma?"

"Yes babies?" Sylvie asked as she finally turned to look at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Elliot and I have been talking… and we need to ask you a very serious and very important question." Jack said with certainty.

"Ok… is everything ok?" Sylvie asked, all of a sudden getting a little nervous about what they were about to ask. It couldn't be anything terrible, right? They were only four years old after all…

Jack was about to speak but then suddenly chickened out and pushed Elliot in front of him "You ask her, I'll just start laughing…"

Elliot sighed and shook his head at his brother. Elliot really was a very serious little boy – much like Matt. He didn't really put up with nonsense despite being a little kid.

"Mom." He began as Sylvie tried to anticipate what was coming – but nothing could prepare her for this. "Where do babies come from?"

Sylvie's eyes widened and she gulped, "… babies?"

"Yes!" Elliot exclaimed. "You have a baby inside your stomach and we've been trying so hard to work out how it got there but we just _can't!"_ he blurted out as Sylvie held back a laugh. She would have loved to have been a fly on the wall while they were having those conversations.

She briefly glanced down at her 6-month pregnant belly. When she and Matt had told the boys they would be getting a new baby brother or sister, they didn't really show an awful lot of interest. They just nodded their heads and asked if they could go play some more. It didn't really phase them. They were little boys after all, what did they expect? So, it hadn't really been addressed since – apart from the subtle and cautious reminders to them about it every now and again. They were afraid they would completely forget and be a little shocked when a screaming baby arrived in the house.

But the more Sylvie thought about it, the more she realised she should have seen the signs. The boys would often stare intensely at her bump. Jack had even put his ear to it on occasion to see if he could hear anything going on in there. Right about now, she was seriously regretting not having an answer for this prepared.

"Oh… well, uh…" Sylvie began awkwardly. She knew she had to answer them. They were too smart to let her avoid the question. They would be immediately on her for a real answer. Sylvie sighed, "If I told you a stork drops babies off on our doorstep would you believe me?"

Jack and Elliot both crossed their arms and shook their heads in disapproval.

Sylvie pursed her lips, "… right. How about we talk about it after dinner?"

"Sylvia Evelyn Brett!" Jack exclaimed as Sylvie quirked an eyebrow. "Will you _please_ answer our question?"

"… did you just full name me? Because two can play at that game Jack Boden Casey." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Ok… no more full naming…" Jack grumbled. He hated it when his parents full named him. He associated it with getting into trouble.

"And back to the question – _where do babies come from?"_ Elliot asked slowly, signalling that he wasn't going to let this go.

Before Sylvie had another chance to worm her way out of this one, the front door opened, and Matt appeared.

"Dad!" the boys shouted as they ran for their dad, immediately jumping on him, causing him to stumble back slightly.

"Wow, nice to see you too…" he said with a little laugh as he managed to lift them in either arm.

Sylvie walked over to her boys with a smirk on her face. She couldn't wait to see Matt's face when the boys asked him the dreaded question.

"Hi hon" Sylvie greeted, her voice that little bit chirpier as Matt leaned forward and furrowed his eyebrows.

"You're in a good mood…" he observed. It wasn't exactly unusual for Sylvie to be beaming, but there was something a little suspicious about this.

"And it's about to get that little bit better" she said as she quickly kissed him, ignoring the boys making gagging sounds from Matt's arms.

"Dad, we have a question." Elliot interrupted as Matt turned to look at him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Where do babies come from?"

Matt's eyes widened as he slowly set the boys down in front of him before awkwardly stretching his neck, having no idea where to go with this. He looked up at his wife who was smirking joyfully at him, completely thankful that the heat was off her on this one.

"Why uh – why don't you ask mommy? She's the one with the baby in her tummy after all…" he said, desperately trying to turn this back around as Sylvie glared at him.

"You guys!" Jack said dramatically. "It's not that hard of a question! How did the baby get in there!"

Elliot's eyes widened as he looked at Sylvie's stomach, "… how does it get _out_?"

"Ok, come here" Matt said as the boys jumped up on the sofa and Matt sat on the coffee table opposite them. Much like Sylvie had, Matt soon realised that there was no point lying to them. They were smart kids. If they didn't feel satisfied with the answer, they would go looking elsewhere for one. Their next available source was probably Severide and that just seemed like an altogether_ bad_ idea.

"So… when two people love each other very much they sometimes decide to have a baby together." Matt began as Sylvie watched in amusement, wondering where he was going to take this. "And uh – boys and girls have different parts and they can use these parts to plant a seed inside mommy's stomach."

Jack nodded, "I've seen seeds grow in school!" he said excitedly.

Matt smiled and nodded, thankful that this story was resonating with Jack. "Yeah, exactly like that. The seed is planted and then the baby grows inside mommy's stomach."

"I get it!" Jack said triumphantly as he darted off the sofa, happy with the answer.

Matt looked at Elliot who was still sitting across from him, his arms folded and looking entirely unimpressed.

"You ok Ell?" Matt asked, not entirely convinced he wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Babies start off as seeds… and then they just grow in there?" Elliot asked as he turned around and looked at Sylvie. "I was once in there?"

"Yeah bud, you were" Sylvie told him softly as she bent down, so she was facing him on the other side of the sofa. "You and your brother look up a lot of space in there." She said with a little laugh as she delicately kissed the tip of his nose.

"Does it hurt?" Elliot asked. While Jack had only really been interested in knowing where babies came from, Elliot was more inquisitive. It had always been that way about anything. Elliot had always wanted to know more. He was more thoughtful and cautious than his brother.

"No baby, it doesn't hurt." She told him. It certainly wasn't _peachy,_ but she really didn't want to freak her four-year-old out.

"Ok…" Elliot agreed slowly. He still didn't seem to entirely buy his parents' answers, but it would have to do for now. He jumped off the sofa and went to find his brother, but not before saying.

"You guys can be so _weird _sometimes…"

Sylvie let out a laugh, "What?!"

"You were acting like it was a super-duper secret where babies come from… sounds pretty simple to me!" he said as he ran down the hall.

Sylvie looked at Matt in disbelief. "They're going to hate us when they find out the details"

Matt chuckled, "there is no _way_ they'll remember this when it's time for them to know the details." He assured her. Sylvie pouted. "What's wrong?"

"My boys think I'm _weird_…"

"It was only a matter of time babe. We can't be cool parents forever."

"Maybe this baby will think I'm super cool" she cooed down at her stomach.

"Yeah, keep dreaming…"


	6. Daring Spirits

**This is based around a request from Swimming Clara - I hope you enjoy!**

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**6\. Daring Spirits**

_"Jack! Jack!_ Get down from there, you're going to get us in trouble!" Elliot whisper shouted at his brother. It was a sunny Tuesday morning and Jack and Elliot's kindergarten class had taken a school trip to Firehouse 51. The boys were thrilled to be going to one of their favourite places on Earth. They'd already been countless times with their parents, but they felt a little proud that they got to come here with their classmates and say that their mom and dad worked here. To two almost 5-year olds it was like their claim to fame.

As soon as they had arrived in the firehouse they were running around and waving to everyone they knew gleefully. Nothing made the boys feel more part of the firehouse like when Capp had bestowed nicknames upon them. He called Jack, Jace – a neat combination of his names that was often shortened to Ace and he called Elliot, Moose, because… the song. They _loved_ it. It made them feel important and a part of the squad.

"Come on Elliot, we're just playing!" Jack whisper shouted back. As soon as their kindergarten teacher had turned her back, Jack had sprinted off to truck 81, climbed the ladder up the side of it and was now standing on top of the truck, trying to convince his brother to join him. Jack had always been a bit of a dare devil. There wasn't much he wasn't willing to do. He never really saw the harm in having a little fun – consequences be damned. Brett and Casey were convinced that this was going to get him in hot water one day. In their minds there was a difference between being reckless and being brave and Jack could do with learning the distinction.

"Elliot? Jack?" they heard their teacher call as Jack immediately ducked down and Elliot's eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights. "Ah, Elliot" Mrs Mayberry said with a soft smile when she turned down the side of the truck and found him. "The firefighters are here to tell us about their work" she said as Elliot looked past her and saw his Uncle Joe and Uncle Herman standing there talking to the kids in their class. "Where's Jack?" she asked, realising that his brother wasn't with him.

"Uh… I think he's with the others." Elliot suggested. Elliot was a cautious soul. He never jumped into things without seriously thinking them through first. He was always willing, however, to help the people he cared about the most in this world. That meant lying to his teacher to make sure his brother didn't get into trouble…

"Oh. I must have missed him. Come on, let's go" she said, motioning Elliot away from the truck. Elliot took one last glimpse back at his brother who he could see peaking over the side of the truck holding a hand over his mouth to stop his giggles from being heard.

As Elliot walked back over to his class, Joe looked up as Herman spoke to the kids and frowned. He gave Elliot a light wave but wondered where Jack was. Casey had told him both Jack and Elliot would be here today. After Herman had finished talking to the kids and took them over to the side to show them some equipment, Joe walked around the back of the group and bent down to Elliot's height.

"Elliot… where's your other half?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow. He had a funny feeling that Jack Casey was up to no good.

Elliot sighed, "Uncle Joe I don't have another half I am an individual." He dramatically stated.

Joe chuckled, "Of course… where is Jack then?"

Elliot simply shrugged. He really didn't want to get his brother in trouble. He figured he could do that all on his own and he knew if the situation was reversed, Jack would back him up in a heartbeat. They had a really special bond as not only brothers, but as twins.

"You wouldn't lie to your Uncle Joe, would you?" Joe asked as Elliot remained silent and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well I know he definitely wouldn't lie to his dad… right Elliot?"

Elliot's eyes widened as he slowly turned around and came face to face with Matt, who had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyebrows raised. Elliot gulped as he briefly glanced over Matt's shoulder and saw Jack on top of the truck, silently playing and messing around.

"Dad… you wouldn't rat out on Uncle Severide, would you?" Elliot asked as Matt remained silent. He couldn't believe he was getting conned by two four-year-olds. "Then you can't expect me to rat out on Jack!"

"Elliot" Matt said with a sigh as he pulled Elliot away from the other kids so not to cause a scene. "This isn't about ratting your brother out. A firehouse isn't a playground, I just want to make sure he's safe and not doing anything he shouldn't be doing."

Elliot still remained silent but Matt could see the guilt starting to spread across his face. Instead of saying anything, Elliot merely looked up at the truck as Matt turned his head and saw Jack immediately duck down.

Matt let out another sigh and nodded his head, "Go join the others" he said as he ran his hand over Elliot's hair and walked towards the truck. He climbed up the side of the truck until he was face to face with Jack who was lying flat on his stomach to avoid being seen.

"… I guess I need to work on my hiding huh?" Jack said quietly as Matt pulled bac his son's blonde hair so he could fully see his face.

"Just a smidge." Matt replied. "What are you doing up here Jack?"

"I just wanted to have some fun…" he said sulkingly as he sat up and tucked his legs beneath him. "We've heard all the stuff Uncle Joe and Uncle Herman are talking about before, I just wanted to do something different!"

"Jack you know we don't mind you sitting in the trucks and being up here… but you _always _do it with an adult. Fire trucks are not a toy and you _need_ to have someone with you so you don't get hurt." Matt told him. He loved that his son had such an adventurous spirit, but he could do with practicing a little bit of caution alongside it.

"I just want to be like you guys." He said quietly. He admired what his parents did so much. They were his heroes, so it was only natural that he would take any opportunity to be like them.

Matt smiled, "And you can be… one day. For now you need to enjoy being a kid. You can dream big now and it just might come true in the future."

"You think?" he said, his face brightening up a little bit at his dad telling him that he could be firefighter one day.

"Yeah, I do" he said with certainty. He wasn't sure if as a father he should want his son to want to run into burning buildings, but at the same time, he knew this was the best job in the world and he didn't doubt at all that someone with the same spirit as Jack would be amazing at it. He looked back at Elliot for a moment and smiled again. Elliot was definitely more cautious than Jack, but something told him he would have real knack for it too. His calm control and Jack's daring spirit could make quite the dynamic duo.

He looked back at Jack, whose eyes had suddenly widened, "You're not going to tell momma are you?" he asked quietly. "I mean – she's far too busy with the baby, she doesn't need to be worrying about me…" he reasoned as Matt let out a snigger. Their new baby was just a few weeks old so Sylvie was still at home with them. He imagined Sylvie wouldn't be best impressed to find Jack up here.

"No matter how busy she is with the baby, you will always be her baby boy… so yeah, I'm going to tell her." Matt told him. He wasn't about to lie to his wife about their son's adventures. "I don't want to see you up here again on your own, ok?" he asked, making sure his son was clear on what he'd just heard.

"Ok" Jack agreed with a head nod before allowing Matt to lift him down from the truck. As soon as Matt set him down he ran back over to his class and sat down beside his brother and Matt watched as they immediately started giggling about something. He smiled to himself before walking over to the back to listen in on what they were learning about.

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**If you have anymore requests, send them my way!**


	7. Thunderstorm

**Hi everyone! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited this story. I'm really enjoying writing it, so please keep letting me know what you think! I want to make sure people are still interested in what's going on and so I can cater to what you all want to see.**

**Special thank you to Daisyangel for your ideas, I'll look forward to writing them!**

**I'm also wanting to do some different one-shots/prompts in this series. I've been focusing a lot on the family and I'd like to do some that focus on Brett and Casey pre-family, so if there is anything you'd like to see, please send them my way.**

**For now, it's time to meet the newest addition to the Casey brood that was mentioned last chapter… enjoy!**

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**7\. Thunderstorm **

Matt stood and stared out the window of his quarters at the storm that was raging in Chicago. The night quarter of his shift had just started, and he really wished he was at home. Elliot hated storms and wish Sylvie being heavily pregnant, he imagined she would find it difficult to keep him calm and keep herself calm too. The last thing they all needed was for Sylvie to go into labour in the middle of a superstorm.

Matt was about to turn around and finish his paperwork when he heard giggling at his door. He quirked an eyebrow and turned his head to the side to see if his peripheral vision could confirm his suspicions on the source of the giggles. One it had, he turned back to the window and smiled.

"I wonder what my boys are doing right now…" he said out loud as he heard Jack and Elliot continue to laugh and hush each other at the same time. "They're probably in bed. It is very late after all."

Jack scoffed, "It's not that late…" he said as his face fell and Elliot slapped his hand to his forehead as his brother gave away their position. "Oops…"

Matt chucked and turned around to see the boys standing at the door with wide smiles on their faces.

"Did you two drive here all by yourselves in the middle of a storm?" he teased.

"Don't be silly dad, momma drove!" Jack replied as he bolted the short distance towards him and jumped into Matt's arms. Jack frowned, "Though her bump was a little squished behind the wheel…"

"That's cause I'm about ready to pop Jackie" Sylvie said with a sigh as she appeared at the door behind Elliot. "Uncle Joe has some snacks in the kitchen for you two, why don't you go check it out?"

"Aw, yeah!" Jack said happily as he wiggled out of Matt's arms and dashed out the door to the lounge. Elliot was about to follow when a clap of thunder came and he almost jumped out of his skin. He quickly turned to his parents with wide eyes.

"It's ok baby, you're ok" Sylvie assured him as she pulled him into her side and kissed his head. Hugging her boys straight on was proving a little difficult with her bump. She truly couldn't wait till she could probably hug them and shower them with kisses again. "You're inside, it can't hurt you." She reminded him.

Elliot nodded his head, "I know… but it doesn't make it any less _loud_." He told them. He really just didn't like feeling so startled. He briefly looked out the window and saw that the thunder had quietened down. "I'm going to take shelter with the snacks. Is best to be prepared for a storm on a full stomach." He reasoned as Sylvie and Brett smiled widely as his reasoning and watch as he dashed away before another thunderclap could scare him and no one was around to reassure him.

Sylvie turned to Matt who looked at her softly, "I didn't realise you guys were coming by tonight" he said as he hugged her tightly against his chest, smiling as her bump protruded into his stomach.

Sylvie let out a breath as she closed her eyes and just listened to his heartbeat, immediately feeling so at ease in his arms. "The boys were not sleeping and we all just kind of wanted to be with you right now." She told him. There was a very simple explanation for their visit and Matt loved that they'd taken it. "Even if it did mean me squeezing behind a steering wheel…"

Matt's chuckled vibrated through her, "Well I for one am glad you squeezed behind that steering wheel." He told her. "It's really weird coming to work here without you… it just feels like there's something missing."

She'd been on official maternity leave for a few months now and before that she was confined to training exercises with other paramedics and answering a few minor calls. Now that she was officially gone for the next little while, the firehouse certainly felt like a light had gone out in it. Thankfully, they all knew it was only temporary and they also knew that it was happening because another Casey was being welcomed into the world. If this baby turned out half as wonderful as Jack and Elliot, the world would no doubt be a better place.

"Oh I miss being here everyday" Sylvie confessed. While she was so excited to welcome her baby into the world and enjoy that new-born bliss, she was also so excited to get back in the field doing what she loved.

"Come on, let's go get some of those snacks" Casey said as he quickly kissed her and released her from his hold. He took her hand and began to walk away, but was met with resistance when Syvlie didn't move with him. He looked back at her and saw her hand over her stomach and a frown on her face.

"Are you ok?"

"… yeah, yeah, I'm fine" she said with a smile. "Just a little twinge, she's probably moving."

Matt quirked an eyebrow, "She?"

Sylvie smiled, "It's just a feeling."

"Well, mother knows best…" Matt said with a little smile. He loved being a father to boys, but he really would adore a little girl...

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Matt watched from the table in the lounge as Jack and Elliot helped Cruz with the treats he was making for the house. He chuckled to himself lightly when Cruz turned away and Jack and Elliot immediately stuck their fingers in the bowl and licked them. He made a mental note to warn people before they touched them that the treats were contaminated by Casey germs.

Matt turned his head and looked to the sofa where Sylvie was sitting. She had her feet planted firmly in front of her, but her head was lying backwards until it rested upon the edge of the sofa and her eyes were closed. She looked like she was taking deep breaths and her hands were rested delicately under her bump. He stood from his chair and excused himself from everybody else and walked over to her, watching as she lightly screwed up her face. He bent down beside the sofa.

"Sylvie…" he spoke quietly as she bit her lip and nodded. "You would tell me if you were in labour, right?"

"Um hm…" she said through her closed lips.

"Because you're looking a little uncomfortable right about now"

"Um hm…" she said again as she finally lifted her head and looked at him, tears filling her eyes. "Matt"

"Yeah?"

"… I think in labour" she said quietly, not wanting to draw anymore attention to herself. "I maybe should have mentioned this sooner, but I was scared. I don't want to give birth in the firehouse." She told him. She figured there was no way it was safe for her to travel to the hospital in this weather. The journey here was risky enough. Besides – she had a funny feeling she wouldn't have time. This baby felt like it was coming fast. It made a nice change from the 36 hours of labour she was in with the boys.

Matt smiled softly, "better here than home alone in the middle of a superstorm" he reminded her. "Come on, let's get you to my quarters… Foster, Kidd" he said as he nodded them over and helped Sylvie stand up. "It appears the newest Casey is going to be making their appearance tonight."

"Oh my gosh!" Stella said excitedly before Sylvie glared at her to calm her down.

"You're in labour?!" Mouch suddenly announced having overheard their private conversation.

"What's _labour_?" Jack questioned with a scrunched-up face as he and Elliot hopped off the island and walked towards their mom. "Momma, are you ok?" Jack asked, realising that she was in pain.

Syvlie nodded, "Yeah, baby, I'm ok" she said as convincingly as she could. She let go of Matt's hold and bent down to her knees, holding out her arms as Jack and Elliot rushed to hug her. Sylvie too a moment to hug them tightly, trying to contain her emotions. She was so excited to meet their new baby, but she suddenly found herself becoming incredibly emotional over the fact that her boys weren't going to be her babies anymore. She had quickly discovered that the bond you share with your first baby – in her case, her first two babies – was an incredibly special one and she was afraid of how they boys might cope without her undivided attention. They were incredibly sweet boys, but they were also firecrackers. She worried that they just wouldn't take to having a new baby around.

"Ok momma, we have to go back and help Uncle Joe now" Elliot said as the boys wiggled out of her arms and ran back into the kitchen.

Matt quickly helped Sylvie too her feet and instructed Foster and Kidd to meet him in his quarters with all that they needed to deliver this baby. As they walked to the room, Matt looked at Sylvie and realised she was about to burst into tears.

"Babe, what—"

"I can't be a good mother to three kids. What if my love and my attention won't stretch far enough?" she panicked.

Matt let out a little laugh, "Sylvie… are you really worried that our kids are going to dislike you because you're not giving them enough attention?" he asked as Sylvie nodded her head, trying to control her tears that were a mixture of pain and fear.

Matt quickly got her into the room and sat her down on the bed before knelling in front of her and taking her hands, "Our boys are so loving and understanding and affectionate… I can pretty much guarantee that as they grow up, they'll resent us for giving them too much attention" he joked as Sylvie let out a laugh and Matt wiped away her tears with his finger. "We're not always going to get this parenting thing right, but what I do know is that we will never let our kids doubt how much we love them. If we can do that then everything will be ok." He encouraged.

"I love you" Sylvie said in a whisper as Matt stood and kissed her head.

"I love you more… now let's bring this baby into the world." He said as Sylvie swung her leg around onto the bed.

"Yeah, I think I'm crowning…" she said as Matt's eyes widened. That was fast. He checked Sylvie out and saw the top of their baby's head right there ready to come out.

"Foster! Kidd!" he shouted frantically as Sylvie tried to control her breathing. Foster and Kidd quickly rushed in and handed Casey the clean towels and water before going to Sylvie's head and coaching her to push.

Matt couldn't quite believe that he was actually delivering his own baby. It was a total out of body experience – and it also made him appreciate what his wife was going through to welcome their baby safely into the world.

* * *

A short while later, everyone was pacing the lounge in silence, waiting for news on Brett and the baby. They couldn't quite believe that she had gone into labour during the middle of a superstorm. They had all tried to keep the boys occupied but even they were getting a little antsy now. They wanted to see their mom and dad and were getting frustrated that they couldn't. Just as Elliot was about to storm off, the back door opened and Matt appeared – cradling his new daughter in his arms.

"Dad!" Elliot said happily as he and Jack jumped off the sofa and ran towards him.

Matt bent down in front of them with a smile as the other gathered behind the Casey boys to get a peak at their newest addition.

"There is someone I would like you boys to meet" Matt said as Jack and Elliot peered into his arms at their little sister.

"She's so cute" Jack said, as if he was surprised.

Severide nodded his head, "she is stupid cute, like Disney princess cute…" he commented to the others. In his mind, all newborn babies looked like potatoes – but not Little Miss Casey. She was insanely beautiful.

"She is very cute…" Matt confirmed. "And she's our very own fire baby who most definitely works on her own schedule." He said with a little laugh. She was due for another few weeks, but it appeared she had other plans.

Boden smiled, "She really did come flying into this world."

"How's Sylvie?" Herman asked.

Matt nodded, "She's good. A total champ." He said proudly. "She just fell asleep so I figured it was time for her 51 family to say hello and for her big brothers to say hello too."

"I mean… I guess she's cute enough to keep… as long as she doesn't cry through the entire night…" Elliot reasoned. He didn't want to admit that he was actually really excited now that his little sister was here.

"This is great Elliot!" Jack said happily. "We've got a new playmate! How did we not realise this before?!"

Everyone let out a little laugh at the boys and their reactions. Matt could already tell by how they were looking at their sister that they were going to love her a heck of a lot.

"Does our fire baby have a name?" Ritter asked as everyone looked on eagerly.

"Yeah… This is Annie Evelyn Casey" Matt said proudly as everyone smiled widely. A very pretty name for a very pretty baby.

"Welcome to 51 Annie Casey!" Boden welcomed as everyone agreed happily. Their Firehouse 51 family felt complete.


	8. Siblings

**UPDATE - Hi everyone! I've made a few changes to this chapter just to fit in with what's going on with the show. I'm not convinced these will be the last changes I'll make (such as her sister's name) but it's the way it is for now! Enjoy :)**

**Siblings**

Matt arrived home one Thursday evening following an extra shift he had picked up at the station. His furlough wasn't quite in sync with Sylvie's, so he decided to pick up a few extra hours so that they could take the vacation they wanted together with the kids. As he stepped through the front door of their recently renovated home, he immediately heard his boys talking and laughing about something in the kitchen. He set his things by the coat rack before walking down the hallway and into the kitchen. The laughter was like music to his ears. Today's shift had been a tough one and by the end he wanted nothing more than to come home and hug his wife and kids and never let them go.

"Hi" he greeted softly as he approached them. They appeared to have just finished up their dinner as Sylvie was clearing their plates away. They all began with various choruses of "Hey" and "Hi dad". Matt frowned when he realised his two-year-old daughter wasn't at the table with them.

"Where's Annie?" he asked.

Sylvie nodded towards the play area off the dining room, "Playroom" she replied.

Matt eyed Sylvie curiously for a second. He could tell something was off with her. Anybody else would look and thing she was absolutely fine, but he knew better than that. He knew her through and through. She didn't seem her usual self. He was about to walk over to her and ask what was up when he heard his daughter's voice from the playroom.

"Jackie! Ellie!"

Elliot screwed up his face, "Does she have to call me Ellie?"

Matt snorted, "It's affectionate." He assured his son.

"She's can't say Elliot yet bud, just give her time" Sylvie added as she set the dishes in the sink.

"_Jackie! Ellie!"_ she shouted again. "Come play!" Annie could be demanding when she wanted to be, and this was a case and point.

"Go away Annie!" Jack shouted back, not wanting to be bothered by his sister right now.

"Hey." Matt said sternly. "When your sister calls for you, you go to her."

"Why? It's _annoying."_ Elliot said, backing Jack on this one.

"Boys, I'm serious." Matt said as the boys frowned. "Promise me – whenever she calls you, for whatever reason – promise me you'll go to her."

The boys nodded their heads, "Ok, promise." Elliot said.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, promise." He added before they left the table and ran into the playroom.

"What was that about?" Sylvie asked. Just like he had noticed something was off with her, she was quick to notice that something wasn't quite right with him either.

"It was just a call today… a little girl was trapped under a pole that had fallen in a park and she was calling out for her brother but he just kept playing with his friends, thinking that it wasn't that big of a deal. She clipped an artery in her leg and almost lost it. The guilt on the brother's face – I don't want the boys to ever feel like that in any kind of situation." Matt explained as Sylvie nodded sympathetically. As soon as it happened, Matt couldn't help but think of his kids. He wanted to make sure they would be there for each other through thick and thin. "I don't want Annie to feel let down." He continued. "They're her brothers – they're going to be the ones by her side when we're not. And she's going to be the one by _their_ side too."

Sylvie held out her hand, "Come here" she said as Matt took her hand and she pulled him towards the entrance to the playroom. They stopped and watched their kids as they played together and laughed together as if they hadn't just rolled their eyes and groaned 2 minutes ago. Sylvie wrapped her arms around one of Matt's.

"Those three kids have such a light in their eyes when they're with each other. From that alone I know they will always have each other's backs. Through thick and thin" Sylvie said with confidence as Matt nodded his head.

"Why are you so down today?" Matt asked quietly in return.

Sylvie rested her cheek against Matt's arm, "Scott called."

Matt nodded his head courtly. Things had started off ok between Sylvie and Scott. Julie's death had been a huge blow for them both despite Brett only knowing her for such a short amount of time, and it had been something for them to almost bond over as strange as it sounded. Sylvie had been a really active part of her sister's life, but over the years they had drifted. Scott moved back to Rockford, Sylvie started a family of her own, and that bond wasn't as secure.

"What did he want?" he asked as Sylvie turned and walked back into the kitchen.

"He found an old trinkets box of Julie in the attic. It was full of some of my baby stuff, photos and things. He figured I might want them." she said as she reached into her bag and handed Matt the photos. "He put in some photos of Mia too." she said as Matt looked through them until he found the photos of Sylvie.

"God, you look just like Annie" he said with a smile. Annie really was the spitting image of her mother, but of course she had already mastered Matt's furrowed brow look.

Sylvie let out a laugh, "My doppelganger"

"What are you going to do?" he asked as he set the photos down on the kitchen island.

"Well I wasn't going to do anything, but then your little speech about siblings just got me thinking…" she said. "My brother is there for me through thick and thin" Sylvie said gratefully. Her elder brother Tom was awesome. He was the best brother and the best uncle and Sylvie couldn't ask for more – but now she was wondering whether her little sister deserved that too. She was now almost 10 years old. She deserved to have a big sister watching her back.

"Maybe Mia deserves that too. Maybe she deserves someone to watch out for her the way Tom watches out for me or the way Jack and Elliot watch out for Annie. Maybe she just needs a sister."

Matt smiled at her softly, "the way you see the good in people – it's remarkable." He told her. He always told her this, but he felt like she needed that reminder.

"So you think it's a good idea to reach out?"

Matt walked around the counter and hugged her, allowing her to rest her head against his chest and just listen to his steady heartbeat.

"I think she's a kid who would be lucky to have you in her life, so if that is something you want, I will support you. Equally, if that's something you don't feel like you can do, I will back you 100%. I will always back you." He assured her.

He felt Sylvie smile against his chest, "What did I do to deserve you?"

"I ask myself that question everyday…" he teased.

Sylvie punched him lightly in the stomach causing him to groan lightly and laugh. "Watch it mister…"

"Daddy!" Annie called as she stuck her head around the wall. "Why you no tell me that you here?" she asked with the classic Casey furrowed brow. She'd finally torn herself away from her toys for long enough to realise that he dad was home.

Casey smiled, "I'm sorry baby." He said as he released Sylvie from his hold and walked over to his daughter, scooping her up when she reached her arms out to him. He hugged her tightly as her blonde ringlets covered his face.

Annie pulled back from him and looked at him curiously, "Why are you smiling?"

"Because you are just so very pretty." He complimented as he knocked his nose against hers causing her to giggle.

"It's cause I look like mommy and she's the prettiest person in the world." She whispered to him with wide eyes.

Casey nodded, "She definitely is"

"You can let go now daddy" Annie told him matter of factly as she wiggled out of his arms and ran back to her brothers.

"How could something so sweet… keep us up every night crying for the first 5 months of her life?" Matt asked as he turned back to Sylvie who quirked an eyebrow.

"That – is an excellent question… and sadly one we will never have the answer to." She responded. "But… she's grown out of that crying through the night phase. In fact – I reckon it's a little past her bedtime… oh and Jack and Elliot's too" she said with a teasing smirk as she walked towards him. "What do you say we put them to bed, crack open a bottle of wine, have a semi-date night?" she suggested as she wrapped an around the back of his shoulders and looped her fingers through the belt hooks in his trousers, teasing her lips dangerously close to his.

Matt gulped; "Ok Caseys!" he called before rushing into the playroom. "Bedtime!"

"No way!" Jack protested. It was far too early for bed.

"Dad's rules, bed, now" Casey told him as he scooped a giggling Annie up under his arm.

"_Mom!"_ Elliot called as he ran into the kitchen looking for his mother's support.

The boys protested for a full 45 minutes before Matt and Sylvie managed to get them up the stairs. It then took a further 30 minutes to get them into bed and then a 10 minute story to get Annie to fall asleep. When they finally left the Jack and Elliot's room they collapsed onto their bed. They lay on their backs in silence, just staring at the ceiling while Matt absentmindedly played with Sylvie's hand.

"We jinxed ourselves." Sylvie said after a while. "We said it was so awesome seeing them play together and then we disrupted it. We only have ourselves to blame."

"This is the most exhausting job I have ever done. Being a parent." Matt added.

"Agreed." Sylvie said with a snort. "But I wouldn't exchange it for the world."

Matt turned his head and looked at her, "Me either."

"… I'm going to call Scott tomorrow." Sylvie told him quietly.

Matt smiled softly, "I'm glad."

Sylvie rolled over and sprawled across Matt as he held her closely.

"This feels much better than wine on the couch would have" Sylvie said sleepily.

Matt was about to agree – but a little voice shouted from down the hallway.

"Momma! Daddddd!" Annie called. "Can I have another story?!"

"Annie, be quiet!" Jack shouted back.

"You be quiet!" Annie responded.

"Why do you two have to be _so annoying?!"_ Elliot joined in.

"Speak for yourself _Ellie_" Jack taunted.

"_Don't_ call me that!"

_"MOM!"_

"I just wanted a story!"

_"DAD!"_

Sylvie and Matt simultaneously sighed. "Greatest job in the world…" he mumbled before Sylvie moved off him and he got up, walking towards the door to stop the screaming match that was going on down the hall.

"_The best."_ Sylvie added quietly, smiling softly to herself. The shouting matches, the pushing of each other's buttons – she wouldn't have it any other way because it was a sign to her that they would be by each other's sides through everything. The bickering was a part of one of the truest forms of love and friendship and she couldn't be more grateful that she got to witness it.

There was no doubt in her mind that the Casey siblings would always be a force to be reckoned with.


	9. Secrets

**Thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing/favouriting/following! I'm really enjoying writing these little snippets. We all need a little bit of fluff in our lives! **

**I've also been working with some of the suggestions I've had so stayed tuned for those - this is one of them! **

**If you haven't already check out my one-shot 'Easy'. It can act as a stand alone, but I also wanted to include it as a part of Family Portraits. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**9\. Secrets **

Matt was walking towards the bunk room one Friday morning when he suddenly heard some squealing followed by some shushing coming from behind the door. He peered in the window to find his wife talking to Stella, who in turn had the biggest smile on her face and her hands clasped over her chest. He furrowed his brow in confusion before opening the door.

"Hi" he greeted as Sylvie turned around like a deer caught in headlights.

"H—" she began, but suddenly began to choke on her own spit.

Matt smirked. History appeared to be having a habit of repeating itself when it came to him greeting her and her choking out of nervousness. Of course, the first time he didn't realise she was nervous about being around him, but now – now he was suspicious.

"What's going on?" he asked as he gently rubbed her back, the smirk still evident on his face.

"Oh nothing…" Stella said with a shrug. "We'll get her some water, she'll be fine."

Stella quickly pulled Brett away and out the door before Matt could pry any further. He stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed just as Severide came out of his quarters.

"What's going on?" he asked Matt as he approached him.

"Our wives are hiding something."

Severide slowly nodded his head. "Well… in that case, I don't want to know" he said as he held his hands up, knowing that secret keeping was not something he wanted to get in the middle of.

"Oh come on man, you know you want to know!" Matt pleaded. He really just needed some help getting to the bottom of this.

"This isn't high school Casey, I don't do dumb gossip and secret keeping and neither should you. You're a dad man, come on, you really want this to be the example you set Jack and Elliot?" Severide asked.

Matt rolled his eyes at his friend bring his boys into this. "They're not here, are they?"

"Damn… stone cold." Severide said with a head shake. "Alright I'm in." he easily caved, realising that it was probably best to just do it and stop Casey hassling him. "What do you need?"

"Well she's clearly keeping something from me, but she's willing to tell Stella… which means she'll probably be willing to tell you too." Matt concluded.

"Bit of a leap –"

"Or Stella will tell you."

"Dude. Girl code. No way." Severide reminded him.

"Just – try. Please?" Matt asked desperately. He hated being kept in the dark. He liked to think Sylvie had a good excuse and it wasn't anything that big, but he just had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was.

A few hours later, Severide came walking into the lounge and Matt was quickly on his tail. He knew he had been outside talking to Stella and then Sylvie for the past half an hour, so he was hoping he would have some intel.

"Well?" Matt asked quickly.

"It's all good man, nothing to worry about." Severide said as he patted his arm and tried to walk away.

"Ok… then what is it?" Matt asked.

"Don't worry about it" Severide merely repeated before walking away.

"Severide! Come on man!" Matt called, but Severide merely just waved a hand at him, frustrating Matt more and more.

He got on with the rest of his day, all while observing Sylvie carefully. She'd taken a few phone calls and was on her computer a little more than usual, but there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary. He did find it a little strange however when she texted him saying she was leaving work without him and would meet him at home.

He knew Sylvie wouldn't keep anything big from him, but it was all just so weird. For so long they had been each other's confidants. They were one of the very few people each other trusted with anything in their lives and he couldn't see any reason why that would change.

He walked into his house that morning and straight down the hall to find Jack and Elliot eating their breakfast at the table.

"Hey twinnies" Matt greeted.

"Hi dad!" they both resounded, through Jack's greeting was a little grumbled through his mouth full of cereal.

"Smaller mouthfuls bud" he said with a little snigger as Jack nodded his head and continued eating. "Where's mom?"

"Mom is here" Sylvie said as she came into the room. "Hi" she greeted - without choking.

"Hi" Matt replied as Sylvie stood in front of him and quickly kissed him. "How is it that I just spent a whole shift with you, but feel like I barely saw you?"

Sylvie smiled, "I was pretty busy today…"

"Yeah I noticed…" he grumbled as Sylvie quirked an eyebrow and Matt walked over to clear the boy's bowls away after they darted into the playroom.

"I did a little bit of shopping for the boys yesterday. Got them some new Chicago Bears jerseys." Sylvie said as she folded her arms and watched as Matt puffed around, cleaning up Jack and Elliot's cereal bowls. "They're in that bag if you want to check them out. They're very cute."

"Guys don't really go goo-goo for that kind of stuff hun…" Matt reasoned. He had no doubt that the jerseys were cute, but he didn't need to swoon over them.

"Just – just check them out." Sylvie pleaded.

Matt stopped what he was doing and eyed her curiously, "Ok…" he conceded as he walked over to the kitchen island and reached for the bag. He briefly looked up at Sylvie and saw her looking at him with a sense of great anticipation. What the _heck _was going on? It was just a couple of jerseys…

He lifted them out and turned them over, inspecting the name and numbers on the back of them. Casey 1. Casey 2… _Casey 3?_ He stared at the third jersey for a minute before lifting it up. It was tiny. He looked at the label and saw that it was for a baby. Casey 3. Baby sized t-shirt. _Casey 3_.

"Casey number 3?" he questioned with a gulp, finally looking up at his wife and seeing she had the sweetest smile on her face. "Are you pregnant?"

Sylvie nodded her head, "Yeah, I am"

Matt immediately walked over to her and hugged her so tightly. All his grumbles immediately faded away and his heart felt so full. He pulled back from his wife, seeing they both had tears in their eyes.

"Was this why you were sneaking around all day?"

Sylvie let out a little laugh, "I wanted you to be the first person to know… but then I remembered you kept the fact that I was pregnant with the boys from me for a whole day so I thought it was only fair that I had some fun with this one" she teased with a little giggle. "Stella has a friend who helped me make the shirts on such short notice." She explained.

"What about Severide?"

"He guessed…" Sylvie said with a grimace as Matt smirked and nodded his head.

"Of course he did." Matt looked at Sylvie and immediately saw the light that was radiating from her. She was just so beautiful and he couldn't quite believe just how in love with her he was.

"I am so in love with you" he told her as Sylvie smiled widely, her eyes filling with more tears. She delicately rested her hands on Matt's cheeks.

"Every day I am so grateful and in awe of how much love you show me, and you show our boys and I cannot wait to see how much love you shower on this baby too. I love you so, so much." She told him quietly. They were the only two in the room, but she was still talking to him as if she only wanted him to hear.

"We're having a baby" he repeated, wanting to speak it into existence.

"We're having a baby" she replied before Matt swooped his head and kissed her with all the love in his heart and keen excitement brewing over what was to come.


	10. Tummy Bugs

**Tummy Bugs**

* * *

14 year old Annie Casey made her way downstairs late that Monday morning. Sylvie had woken her up for school about an hour ago and ever since she felt completely miserable. Every muscle in her body just refused to move and her stomach threatened to chuck up its insides if she even sat up at the slightest angle.

She somehow managed to find the strength to go downstairs and tell her parents that she couldn't go to school. No way. She sulked into the kitchen, her blonde curls pilled on top of her head in a bun and her pyjamas still on. She soon spotted Matt standing at the island on his phone. He looked up when he caught Annie in his peripheral vision and frowned.

"Ann come on, you're going to be late for school, go get dressed." He told her before looking back at his phone, trying to finish replying to this email.

"Daddy I can't" she whined as she leaned against the wall. "I feel like there's an elephant on my head and the smell of the toast that was just made in here… vomit inducing." She grumbled as she scrunched up her nose and tired to keep her gag reflex in check.

Matt walked around the island and placed his hand on her forehead, feeling that she had a temperature.

"You do feel hot, hun." He sympathised.

"Don't listen to her dad, she's just trying to get out of her algebra test today." 18-year-old Jack said as he bounded in the kitchen, hopped onto the island and bit into an apple.

Annie glared at her brother, "Shut up Jack, I actually have a work ethic unlike _some_ people we could mention." She shot back, before resting her cheek on Matt's arm. Jack wasn't a waster in school, but he certainly wasn't reaching his full potential. He just felt like he wanted to be out exploring the world rather than stuck behind a desk, looking at it through a window.

"That's no way to talk about Elliot, Ann." Jack responded without missing a beat as Annie rolled her eyes.

Sylvie then came into the kitchen and immediately sighed at Jack's position on the island, "Jack you do see the perfectly good island stools right in front of you, right?" she questioned as Jack silently slipped off the counter and onto one of the stools.

"Annie's pretending to be sick to get a day off." Jack blabbed, trying to take any potential heat off him.

Sylvie sighed, "I don't think she's pretending, Elliot's been throwing up all morning…"

"Ugh. _Fantastic."_ Annie grumbled as she pushed herself off her dad. "Where is Elliot so I can go thank him for this bug?"

"In his room" Sylvie told him as Annie sulked back upstairs.

"So… I guess we should all stay at home today. It's super likely that we'll all get this bug so it's best to keep it contained –" Jack began. He was always willing to chance it to get a day off school, but his parents weren't falling for it.

"Nice try, school, now." Matt instructed.

Jack sighed and lifted his car keys off the counter. "Thank God for you two to keep me on the straight and narrow." He snarked. "I got football practice after school and then we're heading to the diner, I won't be late." He said as he quickly kissed his mom goodbye and walked out the door.

"Be home on time to do your homework Jack!" Sylvie shouted as the door slammed shut. "Yeah, he'll pretend not to have heard. I'm going to call in sick today, I don't really want to leave them when they're like this." Sylvie said as she picked up her phone. She'd taken an extra shift today at the firehouse, so it wasn't a huge deal if she missed it.

"No, you go. Today was a paperwork day for me anyway." Matt insisted.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Ok… call me with updates regularly." She asked anxiously. She really hated leaving her babies when they were sick – even if they were teenagers.

"I will" He promised as he quickly kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too" she replied with a smile as she left the house.

Matt got to work gathering some water and saltines to ensure that they at least stayed hydrated and had something in their stomachs. He made his way upstairs and saw Annie wasn't in her room. As he walked down the hall he found her and Elliot in Elliot's bed, staring blankly at the laptop at the end of it that they were streaming a movie on.

"What are you watching?" he asked as he set the drinks down.

"I have no idea… it came on automatically and neither of us have the energy to change it." Elliot told him in a strained voice.

"Daddy I think this is the end. Tell mom I love her." Annie dramatically said as she grabbed her dad's hand.

"You two are worse than when you were sick as kids." Matt teased with a snort as he affectionately kissed Annie's hand.

Elliot glared, "You try chucking up your insides for a morning and come back to me old man."

_"Old?_ Has Uncle Hermann taught you nothing? You never ridicule age…" Matt joked, knowing that it was one ball busting category that Hermann said was off limits in the firehouse.

Suddenly, the front door opened and they heard some heavy footsteps along the hallway and stairs. They all looked at the door to Elliot's room and saw a very pale Jack standing there.

"… I threw up in the school parking lot." He revealed, clearly a little embarrassed by it.

"Oh my _god"_ Annie howled, giving the best laugh she could muster. "This is going to make me vomit but it is _so_ worth it." She said as she tried to control her laughter at her brother's misfortune.

"Shut up Annie…" Jack grumbled as he pushed Annie into the middle of the bed and lay down beside her.

"Ok, stay put, I'll grab towels and water and whatever else." Matt told them. He had a feeling that playing nurse all day wasn't going to be much fun.

* * *

The day only got worse for the Casey kids and their illness. They were constantly vomiting, their temperatures were through the roof and Matt wondered how it was possible for them to be worse patients as teenagers than as little kids.

"How are they doing?" Sylvie asked down the line to Matt as he washed his hands. He'd been doing it constantly today. No way was he catching this bug.

"They're ok, they haven't thrown up for an hour so I guess that's good." He replied.

"My poor babies—"

_"Dad!_ Dad can you get me some water please?" Annie called from down the hall.

"Annie stop shouting and use your phone, my head is ringing!" Jack shouted back from his room.

Elliot scoffed, "can't be that bad if you're shouting back you idiot."

"Stay out of this Elliot."

_"Dad!"_

"Shut up Annie!"

Matt sighed as his kids continued to shout at each other through the walls. "Babe I gotta go, they're losing the plot." He said as he hung up before Sylvie could even say bye. He stormed into Annie's room first, "Elliot's room, now." He sternly told her as Annie frowned and sulked into her brother's room. "You too Jack!" he called as he backed on Jack's door.

They all walked into the room and climbed onto Elliot's bed, making sure to shove each other about a little in the process. Matt stood at the end of the bed and folded his arms.

"Annie, how old are you?" Matt asked his daughter.

"… is this a trick question?" she asked as she looked between her brothers and father, entirely confused.

"Just answer the question."

"…14."

"Boys, how old are you?"

"18…" the mumbled at the same time.

Matt nodded, "that's funny, you say 14 and 18 but you've been acting like three-year olds all day!" he chastised. "I know you're sick and I know that sucks, but you're Caseys. We don't mope around, we fight things head on. We keep our chins up even if it's just a tummy bug."

Annie sighed and dropped her previously folded arms onto the bed, "Yeah you're right this isn't like us."

"Actually the bickering is very on brand—" Jack told them as Annie and Elliot glared at him. "… but yeah, we don't mope. We're not moppers."

"Everyone has their weak spot dad. Ours is that we don't suffer well." Elliot reasoned.

"Maybe so, but I'm not going to listen to it anymore. I'm going downstairs and I don't want to hear a single word being said in a raised voice." Matt warned them. "Is that clear?"

"Crystal…" they all replied simultaneously before Matt courtly nodded and left the room.

"God, I felt like one of his firefighters… is he always so… _captainy?" _Annie asked as she scrunched up her face.

"_I heard that"_ Matt called from the hallway as they all sulked further into the bed.

"Terrifying." Jack agreed.

* * *

Later that evening, Sylvie arrived home and rushed in to see her babies.

"I'm home!" she called but didn't get a response. She walked through the house and thought that it was eerily quiet. She eventually found her husband lying fast asleep on the sofa. She smiled sweetly, figuring the day must have been a taxing one.

She sat beside him on the edge of the sofa and ran her fingers through the tips of his hair, stirring him awake. As he got a grasp of his surroundings he smiled softly when he realised his wife was sitting in front of him.

"You look like an angel." He told her in a sleepy voice.

Sylvie let out a laugh, "Well you look like a man who's barely alive. What happened today?"

"Your kids are monsters when they're sick."

_"My_ kids?" she asked with another laugh, wondering why all of a sudden they were just hers.

"I'm disowning them for the day… way too much shouting around the house." He told her as he ran his hand up her arm.

"I see… where are the little monsters anyway?" she asked.

Matt sat up a little and contemplated. Come to think of it, he hadn't heard a peep from them for the past 4 or so hours – and he definitely hadn't been asleep for that long.

"They're so…_ quiet._" He said before bouncing off the sofa and going upstairs with Sylvie in tow. "When they were little and things were quiet it was never a good sign, this can't be good."

"Honey they're sick and they're also teenagers, I doubt they're hanging from the curtain poles." She reminded him.

Matt stuck his head into Annie's room and then Jack's, seeing they weren't there. They finally got to Elliot's room and as Matt walked in he paused in his steps and took in the scene in front of him. Jack, Elliot and Annie were all fast asleep on Elliot's bed, snuggled under the duvet, looking like perfect little angels.

"I—" Matt began, not even knowing what to say.

Sylvie came into the room and immediately rested her hand over her heart, "They were just the sweetest. How could you call them monsters?!"

"Maybe they're not so bad…" Matt said, his heart warming at the scene in front of him. He and Sylvie had said for years it drove them a little nuts how their kids got at each other's throats – but they knew that no matter what, they would always have each other's backs. That beyond the petty bickering they would always stand by each other. They were siblings but they were also the best of friends and that was all they could ever want for them.

"Hm… they're pretty great. We did good Casey." Sylvie told him with a wink.

"Yeah we did…" he said as he turned around and looked at her. "If you'll excuse me… it's my turn to vomit now." He said as he rushed out of the room.

_Stupid bug_. He made a mental note to thank his kids for this one later.


	11. How do I love Thee?

**Hi everyone! I'm hoping throughout this quarantine we get our fix of Brettsey fics to keep us going, so here's my contribution to it. I posted a one-shot last week called Easy that I also wanted to be a part of this universe, so check that out for a little more information on how Brett and Casey managed to get their act together!**

**For now, Brett's in trouble and Casey has an important question to ask… enjoy!**

* * *

**How do I Love Thee?**

* * *

Sylvie walked through the doors and into the apparatus floor towards the ambulance. She needed to check on their supplies, but before she could make it much further, she felt a hand pull her backwards and into the turn out room. Once she steadied herself from the sudden pull, she met a pair of blue eyes that she loved more than anything in the world.

She smirked at her boyfriend; "What are you doing?" she asked as Matt's arms snaked around her waist and he returned her smirk.

"I just saw you walking by and just felt the extreme urge to kiss you" he told her as his lips hovered dangerously close to hers.

"Is that so?" she asked quietly, continuing to tease one another. "It's very unlike you Captain Casey… sneaking off into the turn out room for a make-out session." She said, teasing him for his normally straight and narrow ways.

"I won't tell if you won't."

"_Deal." _

Matt took the plunge and began kissing his girlfriend as if it was the only thing keeping them alive as Sylvie's hands quickly steadied themselves around Matt's neck. They'd been together for a little over a year now and Matt could safely say that he loved her with everything that was in him. Ever since their little squabble in the bunk room after Cruz' wedding and the subsequent declaration of love, neither of them had looked back.

Over the years, Sylvie had always wondered why every relationship she had crumbled around her. She felt like it was her fault and she just wasn't a relationship person. But in her heart of hearts she just knew that wasn't true. She had so much love to give – she just hadn't found the right person to give it to yet. Little did she know, the right person was standing right in front of her this whole time. They just had to wait for the right moment to let this love into their lives.

Sylvie took a breath and smiled as Matt kissed down her jaw and neck, "You're in a mood" she commented.

"What?" he mumbled against her skin.

"Not a bad one, but a mood. A different mood… a good mood." She said as Matt's head shot up with a quirked eyebrow.

"Are you telling me that I'm always grumpy?" he asked.

Sylvie sniggered, "No, I'm just saying you're in a weirdly good mood. Overly good mood… what are you hiding?"

"Now I'm hiding something?" he said as he rested his hand over his heart in fake offence.

"Yes… you definitely are. I've known you for a long time Matt Casey. I know your tells." She said with narrow eyes. "You get overly smiley, a little awkward—"

"Awkward?"

"Yeah, like you don't really know what to do with your hands—"

Matt went to protest against Sylvie's claims but the bells went off calling engine, truck, squad and ambo to a nasty house fire.

"Duty calls" he said as he quickly stole another kiss before they rushed out onto the floor.

"Hey Casey" Sylvie called as he opened the truck door and looked back at her.

"I love you and I will get to the bottom of why you're being shifty." She told him with her normal, beaming smile that made him melt.

"I'm not being shifty!" he responded. "And I love you too"

They soon arrived at the scene of the fire and quickly assessed what was going on. Engine, truck and squad quickly got to work to get the families out and the fire stopped.

"Captain!" Matt heard over his radio from inside. "I got some gas cylinders down here that are going to blow, we gotta get out of here, now!"

"Ok everybody out, let's go!"

Sylvie began to panic as she looked over to the house, waiting for Matt to come out the door. She saw him rush out with a little girl in his arms and absentmindedly took a step towards him. Before she could check that he and the little girl were ok, there was a huge blast that sent everyone flying to the ground – including Sylvie.

* * *

Matt lay on the ground for a few seconds trying to get his bearings. His ears and head were ringing from the explosion.

"Captain! Captain!" he heard muffled voices shout around him. He looked up and found Stella looking at him, trying to get his attention. "Are you ok Cap?"

"Where's the little girl?" he immediately asked. He may have felt a little out of it, but he could still remember he came out with that girl.

"She's ok, Foster's got her but uh—" Stella began, pausing and swallowing a lump in her throat as Matt got to his feet. She didn't know how to say this without freaking him out.

"What? What is it?" he asked. His mind immediately jumped to Sylvie. He desperately looked around him to find her, but he couldn't see her. "Where is she?" he asked in a deeply quiet voice.

Stella didn't even have to ask who she was. She could tell by the look on his face he was looking for his girlfriend.

"Some debris came flying at the ambo. Foster managed to take cover behind it, but Sylvie was walking towards the house when the explosion came and she was knocked backwards. The debris hit her head—" Stella tried to explain as calmly as possible as she could see Matt's breathing become more and more ragged.

"Where is she?" he asked again, this time the desperation in his voice was evident.

"She was out cold Casey. They'd taken her to med." Stella said.

Matt tried to hold his emotions together as he looked around him, not knowing what to do. He had a job to do here, he had a job to finish – but how could he when Sylvie was being rushed to med with a head injury?

"Casey!" he heard Boden shout. "Take my buggy. Go to med. We'll finish up here and be right behind you. That's an order." He made clear, just in case Casey felt conflicted about leaving – but he didn't. He would have gone even if Boden had have said no.

Casey threw his coat and hat down on the path and grabbed Boden's keys and jumping in the buggee and speeding away.

When he arrived at med, he was immediately met by Will Halstead at the door.

"Casey—"

"Where is she?" he asked for what felt like the hundredth time. Had he even said anything else since the explosion? He just wanted a straight answer.

"_She's ok."_ Will made clear. "We've just sent her for a head scan, but she is awake and alert. She's ok."

Matt let out a breath that he didn't realise he was holding. His eyes were filled with tears and he put his hands on his hips to calm himself down.

"Come on through" Will said as Matt quickly followed him through to the bay they were keeping Sylvie in.

He turned into the doorway and saw Sylvie lying on the bed, her eyes closed, but looking shockingly peaceful for just having been on the outskirts of an explosion.

"I'll give you two a minute" Will said with a tight lipped smile before departing.

Matt walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. He took one of Sylvie's hands in his and ran the other over her hair, which stirred her awake. When she came to her senses, she smiled as best she could when she saw Matt sitting there.

"Hi" she greeted quietly.

"Hi… you scared the hell out of me." He told her as he kissed her head and tried to stop himself from bursting into tears. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so scared. The thought of losing her was just too much to bear.

"I'm ok" she assured him as he rested his head against hers.

"I just – the thought of losing you. I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. I – I can never lose you." He told her desperately.

Sylvie reached a hand to rest on his cheek, "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Matt kissed down her cheek before lifting his head to look at her. He had plans. Nothing huge, nothing elaborate, but plans none the less… but his heart was screaming at him to do it now. Why not now?

"Marry me." He whispered as Sylvie suddenly felt a lot more alert.

"What?"

"You and I, we – we fit. We fit perfectly and it's easy, yet so passionate and real." He told her as Sylvie eyed him curiously. "And as soon as I let the love I felt for you into my heart, I realised why it didn't work out with anyone else." Matt told her as he tightly clutched her hand.

"Matt—"

"I wake up every morning beside you and my heart immediately skips a beat. It skips a beat that someone as good as you would want to be with me. I told you a little while back that you would find what you wanted in life, because that's exactly what you deserve – and I really hope that I can be what you want Sylvie Brett. I'm not promising that things will always be perfect, but I can promise you that I will always love you with everything that is in me." He told her as Sylvie felt a stray tear spill down her cheek. "I would love nothing more than to call you my wife. You are everything and I uh – I had something a little different planned out for this…" he said as he reached into his pocket and lifted out a small, velvet black box.

"Oh my god, that's why you were acting weird earlier" Sylvie said, putting things together. He was planning on proposing to her tonight. He'd been in such a good mood because he saw his future in front of him and it made his heart soar.

Matt smirked, "I'm glad you remember little miss concussion…" he teased.

Sylvie returned his smirk, "I hope I never forget the look you had on your face this morning… it's a look I know is only reserved for me." She told him as Matt nodded his head. She was completely right. It had been a long time since he'd looked at somebody even a fraction of the way that he looked at Sylvie.

"And it always will be." He replied. He got off the bed and got down on one knee, opening the black box to reveal the most perfect platinum ring with a delicate oval shaped diamond in the centre. "Sylvie Evelyn Brett… will you marry me?"

"Yes. A thousand times yes." She said with the utmost certainty. She knew that this was it for her. She didn't doubt it even in the slightest. Matt Casey was her soulmate – and boy did she feel lucky.

He slipped the ring on her finger before hugging and kissing her. Suddenly, they heard cheers behind them as they turned their heads and saw Firehouse 51 all standing outside of the room. They'd clearly come to see how she was and accidentally ran in on a proposal. They couldn't help but laugh at the interruption. Most would be frustrated, but to them it seemed fitting that they were celebrating this moment in a hospital bed surrounded by people who had become family.

"I love you Matt Casey. With everything in me." Sylvie told him quietly, not wanting everyone to hear this personal confession. She knew he would be the only person she would make such declarations to for the rest of her life, so she wanted it to always be for his ears and his ears only.

"I love you too" he replied just as quietly before kissing her and getting more cheers from their family behind them.


	12. First Words

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed after the last chapter. I'm so glad you all liked it! I want to try and do more chapters that have a specifically romantic focus, so stay tuned!**

**For now, Casey tries to get Annie to say her first word… enjoy!**

* * *

**First Words**

* * *

Matt lay on the playroom floor, propped up on his elbows looking over at Annie as she sat in her baby bouncing chair. At 6 months old she was a bright and insanely beautiful baby. Her big blue eyes were captivating, and her head was adorned with the sweetest blonde ringlets. Her little laugh was infectious, and it was the perfect remedy after a rough day at work.

As well as trying to get her to sit up on her own, Sylvie and Matt had been trying to coax her first word out for her. The war for the first mama and dad was on. It had been a tie with the boys. Jack said mama first, Elliot said dada, now this would be the decider.

Matt had spent all morning with Annie while Sylvie took the boys to their soccer game that Saturday morning. After some breakfast, they played a little and now Matt was determined to make her laugh until he had to put her down for a nap – and he was an expert at it. For someone who was fairly serious, he was a total goof with his kids. He was a natural at provoking hysterical laughter out of them for the stupidest of reasons. Today, he figured that if he could get Annie to laugh he could get her on side and get her to say dada first.

It didn't take long for him to make Annie laugh. He made faces, he played peek-a-boo, he blew raspberries on her little tubby belly and her cheeks and she laughed and laughed and laughed.

"You are just the sweetest baby in the world" he told her with a sense of admiration in his voice. How did he make such a perfect baby? He figured Sylvie's perfect genetics somehow cancelled out his.

"Let's see what new words we could maybe say today… dada?" he asked, but Annie merely sucked on her fingers and gave him a little smile. She knew who dada was and she loved him more than anything – but she didn't want to say it just yet.

"Ok maybe not…" he grumbled as he looked around him before spotting one of Jack's balls and lifting it up. "Ball?"

Again, she remained silent and continued to stare at Matt. As he contemplated the next word he would go for, he heard the front door open and heard Jack and Elliot talking about what he could only assume was their soccer game.

"Ok, one more word before your brothers come in and cause some mayhem…" he said as he reached behind the bouncer and lifted up a toy fire truck.

"… fire truck?" he questioned. He knew there was no way she would say it, but go big or go home, right?"

_"Fi!"_ Annie babbled as Matt's ears perked up.

"Oh my god… baby did you just say fire?"

_"Fi!"_ she babbled again as Matt sprung to his knees.

"You – you did, you said fire! Sylvie! Babe, come here!" he called as Sylvie came bursting into the room with the boys behind her.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked desperately.

"Annie just said her first word." He said proudly as he stood up and puffed his chest out.

Sylvie frowned, "And I missed it?" she whined.

"What did she say?!" Jack asked excitedly as he and Elliot sat on the floor beside her to say hello.

"She said _– fire."_ Matt announced as Sylvie quirked an eyebrow.

"Fire? She said fire?" Sylvie asked with a hint of disbelief in her voice. It seemed appropriate that a child of Matt Casey would have something fire related as their first word, but she hadn't even said mama or dada yet.

"Yep!" he said, popping the p. "My baby's a genius!" he said as he moved back to the floor with the boys as Sylvie got down on her knees. "Show momma and the boys baby" he told Annie as he lifted the fire truck. "Say – _fire_."

… Annie just stared at all the eyes around her and said nothing.

_"Fire"_ Matt repeated again with encouraging eyes focused at his daughter.

_"… fi!"_ Annie babbled as Matt beamed and the other screwed up their faces.

"I don't know babe…" Sylvie said. It sounded just like a little bit of babbling.

"Yeah dad, I don't think fffff is a word…" Elliot confirmed as Jack nodded in agreement.

"It's about sound you guys, not proper words, she's just a baby…" Matt said with a proud. "She is our little fire baby, she was born at the fire house so of course her first words are going to be fire related." He said as he picked her up from the bouncer and snuggled her close.

Sylvie smiled "Well if you heard fire who are we to argue?" she said as she stood up and quickly kissed both Annie and Matt. "Come on boys, bath time" Sylvie instructed as they jumped up and ran upstairs with Sylvie behind them.

Annie rested her head against Matt's shoulder as he lightly rubbed her back.

"And nap time for you Miss Casey" he told her as he too climbed the stairs. He walked into Annie's room and sat on the rocking chair in the corner to sooth her to sleep. He moved her so he was cradling her in his arms, her head rested against his chest and one of his hands gently rubbing her onesie clad foot. He hummed gently to her – she loved the vibrations of his deep voice from his chest.

She let out one final big yawn before mumbling, "da-ma"

Matt stopped humming in a stunned moment of silence. He smiled lightly to himself. Da-ma it is then.

But whether it was mama, dada or fire… it really didn't matter. What mattered were these little moments, like rocking his baby to sleep, that he knew he would treasure for the rest of his life.


	13. Risk Takers

**Elizabethhdawnn - I feel like you might be a mind reader, because your request was the next chapter I had written...**

**Brett and Casey find themselves responding to call they never imagined they would have to respond to... enjoy!**

* * *

**Risk Takers**

* * *

"Hey" Matt greeted Sylvie as he fell in line with her in the hallways of 51. "Slow day, huh?" he asked. They'd been sitting around, checking equipment, filling out paperwork and doing anything but responding to calls.

Sylvie scrunched up her nose, "Yeah, I didn't want to say it out loud in case I jinxed it"

Matt snorted, "Clearly I don't have that concern..."

Sylvie remained silent as the continued to walk and Matt could instantly tell that something was off with her. She normally laughed at his stupid comments - no matter how lame they were.

"Are you ok?" he asked as he rested a hand on the hollow between her neck and shoulder.

"I just feel really guilty about leaving Elliot this morning." She said with a sigh as Matt pulled her to the side to talk a little more privately. "He was screaming and screaming Matt and we just _left _him." It was like a switch clicked in Elliot's brain when he and Jack turned two. He hated it when his parents left in the morning and whenever they were out whether it was in Chicago or with friends, he clung to his parents and no one else. Occasionally Severide could convince him to play with him for a while, but it normally took a bit of work. Jack on the other hand was incredibly sociable and would spend time with just about anybody who would give him attention. This morning their nanny, Joanna, had to pull Elliot off Matt with a significant amount of force as he was in no mood for his parents to leave him (while Jack was practically pushing them out the door so he could get on with playing).

"It's just a little bit of separation anxiety. He'll be ok." He assured her as he moved a stray hair that had fallen onto her cheek.

Sylvie ran her hand over her forehead, "I don't know Matt, call it a mother's intuition or whatever but I just don't feel right about leaving him, I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Matt wasn't really sure what to say. Seeing Sylvie worried made him worry. He knew separation anxiety was something a lot of toddlers went through and while it was difficult to see his son upset, he was trying to reason with fact in order to calm Sylvie, but the more she protested, the harder it became.

"Are they at home right now?" Matt asked, knowing that Joanna often took them out in the afternoon to the shops or to the park. He figured it wouldn't hurt placing a call to make sure everything was ok – which he didn't doubt it would be.

"I tried calling her, but she didn't pick up, I figured she was driving or something –"

Suddenly, the bells went off calling ambo and truck to a play park nearby. They rushed over and jumped out, concerned that a little kid had been hurt. What they hadn't anticipated, however, was just how much this one would hit home.

"Matt…" Sylvie said as her face fell and the people in the park came into view. "That's Joanna." She pointed as Matt squinted his eyes and spotted their nanny. Sylvie shot past him and he soon followed behind.

"Oh my god, Sylvie, Matt, I've been trying to call you, I didn't even think that the call might go to your firehouse" Joanna said desperately as they approached with the rest of their crew behind them.

"What's going on?" Sylvie asked as she moved past Joanna and past the jungle gym where she spotted Jack knelling beside Elliot. As she looked at the scene it appeared that the roundabout had come off it's hinges and had tipped over, trapping Elliot's leg beneath it.

"Momma!" Elliot cried desperately as he spotted his mom.

"Matt!" Sylvie called as she rushed over to her boys and knelled beside them.

"Jack, come here" Matt said as he took in the scene. Jack rushed over to his dad and Matt scooped him up, checking him over once to make sure he was ok.

"The roundy-bout fell on Ellie dad" Jack said with wide eyes, clearly incredibly scared for his brother.

"It's ok bud, we're going to get him out." Matt encouraged as he kissed his son's head. "Gallo, Kidd—"

"We're on it boss, just stay with your boys" Stella told him as the rest of the truck got to work, knowing exactly what they needed to do. They could only imagine what sort of mind Brett and Casey were in right now. It definitely wasn't one to be thinking about rescue plans.

"You're ok baby, you're ok, momma and daddy are here we're going to get you out" Sylvie said to Elliot she ran her hands over his fair hair and kissed his head lingeringly. She was doing everything she could to calm him down while also keeping herself calm, yet she figured that no matter what she did it wouldn't feel like enough. "Foster—"

"I'm on it partner, just stay with Elliot" Emily made clear as she got to work assessing his leg.

Truck 81 worked seamlessly to lift the roundabout off Elliot's little leg. When they removed it, it didn't take long for Foster to assess that his leg was definitely broken.

"Ok Elliot, you've hurt your leg as I'm sure you can feel" Emily told him, hating what she was going to have to do next. "And I promise you we are going to make it all better and to do that we need to move it a little. This won't be the nicest feeling in the world, but it will only be for a second, ok?" she tried to encourage and remain as chipper as possible.

Sylvie held back her tears as Matt gulped, knowing that their son's screams were about to fill the air as Emily put a splint onto Elliot's leg.

"Kidd" Matt called, wanting to shield Jack from his brother's pain. "Take Jack to med, we'll meet you there."

"No, dad, I stay with you, please!" Jack begged. He didn't want to leave the person he trusted most in this world during a scary situation.

"Aunty Stella is going to look after you for a little bit buddy, I promise I will be with you soon" he said as Stella took him away as he continued to scream for Matt. Matt tried to block out Jack's shouts and rushed over to Elliot to provide some extra comfort and care wherever he could. It was the strangest feeling being here as a firefighter but having to be a parent instead.

"Hey buddy" he said cheerily as Elliot's eyes somehow lit up amongst all this chaos at the sight of his dad.

"Daddy, my—my leg" Elliot choked out through his tears.

"I know, you're going to be just fine" Matt insisted as he took Elliot's little hand in between both of his.

As first responders, he and Sylvie were trained to be calm in all kinds of circumstances, but nothing could prepare them for seeing their child in such pain. Matt looked up at Sylvie and could immediately see the fear in her eyes. He gave her a quick and encouraging wink as his way of telling her that this would be over soon. Elliot would be fine and he would have a kick ass cast to prove it.

"Ok Elliot, take a big breath for me" Emily told him as she prepared to move his leg.

Elliot took in a deep breath as Sylvie made sure to hold him steady in case he tried to wriggle from the pain. Emily quickly moved his leg and set it in place as Elliot's screams echoed through the park and Sylvie bit her lip to stop her from crying.

"You did so good buddy. So, so good." Matt told him with a gulp as he squeezed and rubbed his hand, finding himself getting emotional too.

"A total superhero" Emily said with a wink. "Let's get you to med" she said as the lifted Elliot onto the little back board and carried him into the back of the ambo and darted off to med.

* * *

In what felt like a lifetime later, Sylvie and Matt were finally bringing their boys home from med. X rays confirmed what they already knew – Elliot had broken his leg. It was a clean break and the doctors reset it and put him in a cast. Thankfully no surgery was needed.

On the drive home, Elliot and Jack had both fallen asleep in their car seats after what was no doubt an incredibly long day for them both. Trying to keep Elliot calm while they were in the hospital and trying to keep Jack occupied had proven a challenge, but not as big a one as anticipated. Jack was a lot more relaxed than usual. They figured it was because he didn't have Elliot to mess around with and he was worried about his brother. They were incredibly intuitive toddlers, particularly in regards to each other. So Jack just sat in the waiting area for kids with Stella and eventually Severide who called by to check in. He played away with his aunt and uncle with Matt constantly checking in on him.

Matt delicately balanced a sleeping Elliot in his arms as he unlocked the door and Sylvie followed in behind with a sleeping Jack.

"Put them in our bed" Sylvie instructed him as he nodded his head and climbed the stairs as quietly as he could. The last thing he wanted to do was to wake them up for another screaming match.

Matt set Elliot in the middle of the bed and made sure his leg was propped up on a pillow and Sylvie set Jack far enough away that he wouldn't kick it in the middle of the night.

"After today I never want them to leave my sight again" Sylvie said as she closed her eyes and let out a breath she didn't even realise she had been holding in.

"Yeah I know the feeling" Matt agreed as Sylvie walked over to him and hugged him, snuggling tightly into his chest. She'd spent all day comforting her son and now she needed some comforting herself. "But I think one of the best things a parent can do is let their child take risks. I know they're only 2—"

"And a half" Sylvie said, trying to help his point a little.

Matt chuckled as he tightened his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head, "and a half… but their bones will heal and they'll wake up tomorrow and be the wild, brave boys they are, all because they know we'll be there to catch them when they fall, and when we're not – they'll know how to look after themselves, because we let them be wild while they were young."

"I am so thankful that they have a dad like you." Sylvie said quietly.

Matt smiled against her hair, "And a mom with your spirit will get them through anything. Your loving spirit will help them find their own. They'll look back on days like this and not remember the pain, but the comfort that their mother gave them."

"How do you always know the right thing to say?" Sylvie asked as she looked up at him.

"Because I have the greatest inspiration to draw from." He told her sincerely. He kissed across her cheek before he finally kissed her lips, feeling even more grateful than normal that this was his life and his family.


	14. Memories

**This is a slightly longer chapter than usual and also one of favourites. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Memories**

"_Psst…_ _Casey. Casey!_" Brett whispered to her husband as he lay asleep beside her. "_Matthew Casey, wake up!_ God, you sleep like the _dead." _She grumbled as she continued to poke him the chest.

"Poke me in the chest again and see what happens." He grumbled half asleep. He'd heard Sylvie's first attempts to wake him up, but figured if he ignored her, she'd go back to sleep. They had a shift tomorrow, whatever she wanted him for could wait.

Sylvie quirked an eyebrow. She didn't _want_ to wake him up, but she _had_ to show him something. He'd thank her for showing him, she knew he would. She pouted and contemplated her next move. She liked a challenge and her curiosity got the better of her – what would he do if she poked him just once more? She pointed her finger and slowly lowered it to his chest, poking him firmly.

_"Ok"_ he announced as he swiftly turned around and pulled Sylvie beneath him causing her to yelp in surprise as he fit perfectly between her legs. "If this a sex wake up call?" he asked.

Sylvie giggled, _"No!_ Though you're suddenly _very_ awake at the thought…" she said with a smirk.

Matt chuckled, "Well now that I am awake, we may as well take full advantage…" he said as he swiftly kissed her. Sylvie allowed herself to get lost in him for a moment, her hands running through his hair and her legs travelling further up his body, allowing him to sink closer towards her. "Though-" he began as he lifted his head from her lips and moved to her neck, "no more _yelping_, we don't want to wake the monsters" he warned her, thinking that it wouldn't take much to wake the boys and Annie up.

Sylvie smirked, "Don't worry about that, they're downstairs." She said as Matt's head shot up and he propped himself up above her.

"Downstairs?" he questioned. It was 3am. Why weren't their kids in bed?

Sylvie nodded, "and you would know that if you'd just let me wake you up to tell you…"

"You mean this _wasn't _a sex wake up?" he asked again.

Sylvie laughed, "I already told you no! But now that you've put the idea in my head, I will be taking you up on that offer as soon as you see what went on downstairs…" she said as she teased him with her lips for a moment before pushing him off her and bouncing of the bed.

Matt fell flat on his back with a sigh. What a_ weird_ night.

"Come on Casey" Sylvie said with a giggle as she pulled him off the bed, threw a t-shirt at him and pulled him down the hallway and down the stairs.

"So, I was thirsty and we didn't have a glass up here so I went downstairs to get one and while I was down there I noticed a light on in the playroom" Sylvie explained as they walked through the kitchen towards the back room in their house. "I went to investigate and found this…" she said as they stopped by the door to the room and Matt looked in. His mouth fell open a little as he slowly walked in and took in the sight in front of him.

Jack, Elliot and Annie were all fast asleep on the floor – under a fort they had built from the pillows, blankets and sheets they could find around the house.

"Wh—what?" Matt asked. When on _earth_ did this happen?

"Apparently we're heavier sleepers than we thought…" Sylvie said with a grimace. "They somehow managed to sneak out of bed and build a fort all without making a sound… honestly I'm not even mad. I'm kind of impressed." she said with a nod of her head as she continued to survey the scene in front of her.

Matt chuckled to himself. His kids really were adventurous souls. They could have done this during the day, but they thought there was something much more exciting about doing it in the middle of the night while their parents were sleeping.

Matt pulled Sylvie against him and wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her head and securing his arms around her.

"I cannot begin to describe to you just how much love those kids fill my heart with." He told her quietly.

Sylvie smiled, "Yeah… we did pretty good in the kid department."

"It's little memories like this that I know I'll hold onto for the rest of my life." Matt told her sincerely. "I'll also hold onto the fact that they're going to wake up with terrible back aches." He said as he smiled against her head, thinking about the awkward angles they were all lying at. "And I just know – Jack will be the first to complain, Elliot won't say anything—"

"Strong silent type" Sylvie agreed.

"Oh yeah… and Annie, well, she'll tell the boys that they're being ridiculous, but walk around like an old lady for the rest of the day, not admitting that she's uncomfortable" Matt determined as Sylvie sniggered. Annie Casey had her whole household under her thumb. She was the sweetest four-year-old yet also bold and could easily command a room. Her parents knew she was destined for great things.

"You're right… these little memories are everything, huh?" Sylvie asked quietly.

"This family is everything." Matt added. "_You_ are everything." He said into her ear quietly.

Sylvie smiled as she turned around and wrapped her arms around Matt's neck, "Well while our monsters are getting sore backs, I think it would be perfectly acceptable for us to make use of an empty upstairs. Seeing as you're so wide awake too…" she teased as their noses brushed and their eyes lit up – just like they always did when they saw one another.

"_You're on."_ He agreed as he scooped her up causing her to laugh and swiftly carried her upstairs, ready to show her just how much he loved her.

* * *

The following morning, Sylvie stirred awake and reached to the opposite side of her bed to find it empty. She frowned and sat up slightly to see her husband getting dressed at the end of the bed. She looked at the clock. It was only 6am. They still had some time before shift started.

"Where do you think you're going Casey?" she asked as she sat up in bed, pulling the sheets up with her incase one of their kids decided to barge in.

"Boden called. He wants to meet with Severide, Hermann and me before shift." He told her.

Sylvie frowned, "I wonder what that's about"

Matt shrugged, "Probably something dull and procedural." He told her as he walked forwards her and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry to leave you with the mess downstairs" he apologised. Before Sylvie could reply, they heard some shuffling downstairs.

_"Jackie! Ellie! Come on! Tidy it up before they find out!"_ they heard Annie's little voice whisper shout.

Matt and Sylvie took one look at each other before smiling and laughing.

"Something tells me the monsters are going to try and hide all evidence of their little late-night adventure…" Sylvie said.

"It appears so" Matt confirmed. "I gotta get going, but I will see you at work in a couple of hours" he said as she slowly leaned in and gave her a lingering kiss. "I love you"

"I love you too" she replied with a smile before he stood from the bed and walked out the bedroom door.

As he was walking down the hallway, he stopped when he spied his children at the top of the stairs. It took another few moments for them to spot him and when they did, they froze like deer caught in headlights. They had a stare down with Matt for a few moments before his face lightened and he held his hands up.

"I didn't see anything" he said as they all eyed him curiously. He walked past them all and kissed all of their heads. "Have a good day Caseys, I love you"

"Love you daddy!" "Love you dad" "You too dad" they all resounded happily. Once Matt had disappeared downstairs, the Casey kids all looked at each other before darting off into the bedrooms to pretend they had been in bed this whole time.

* * *

Sylvie was pleasantly surprised when she went downstairs that morning. The kids had managed to return the playroom to a relatively tidy manner. It certainly wasn't any messier than it had been the previous day.

After getting the kids up, fed and to school and pre-school, Sylvie made her way in to work. He first point of call was going to Matt's quarters to tell him about her morning of pretending not to know a thing, but before she could even make it into the firehouse itself, the bells went off, calling them to a warehouse fire downtown. Sylvie hated warehouse fires. They_ all_ hated warehouse fires. It brought back some bad memories and they were often the most dangerous blazes they faced.

As she ran to the ambo, she caught Matt's eye as he came running out. He gave her a smile and a wink before hopping into the truck. Sylvie couldn't help but smile a little back. 11 years together and he still made her feel so giddy.

When they arrived at the scene, the fire had been as bad as expected. Sylvie waited anxiously outside as the crews went inside to tackle the blaze.

_"Chief!"_

Sylvie jumped slightly at the sound of Matt's voice over the radio.

_"We need back up, can you send Brett and Foster in? We're safe up here, we just need some medical supplies!"_

"Foster, Brett" Boden called as they quickly nodded their heads, suited up and charged into the scene. They soon located Casey, Severide and Kidd with a few victims.

"What have we got?" Sylvie asked as they approached.

"Victim over here, broken leg. We need it splinted before we can move him" Severide explained as Sylvie nodded her head and moved to provide the necessary care.

Before she could get very far, the roof above them started to creek. They instantly looked up and watch as a metal pole came swinging down in the direction of Sylvie.

_"Sylvie!"_ Matt called as he immediately shoved her out of the way and took the force of the pole against the side of his abdomen.

After picking herself up from the floor, Sylvie let out some laboured breaths before looking around her to find Matt.

"Matt!" she called, her voice becoming strained. She soon spotted him with Severide knelled beside him.

"Don't move man, just – just _don't move._" Severide told him frantically.

Sylvie rushed over and bent down beside him. She looked at his side and saw that the pole was sticking out of him. Who knows how far it went in to his abdomen. The world moved in slow motion around her. She could hear Severide call for assistance to cut the pole so they could move him, but his voice felt muffled.

_"Sylvie. Sylvie. Sylvie!"_

She finally snapped out of her trance as she looked down at Matt. He was clearly in a lot of pain but was trying to keep it together.

"It's ok baby, you're ok" Sylvie told him as she held his cheeks in her hands. She tried to stop her tears but she was entirely unable to. She started sobbing at the state of her love lying there in such pain. She took her mask off as he took his off so they could truly look at each other.

"Sylvie – Sylvie I love you—" he began, but Sylvie cut him off. She knew what he was doing. This was a goodbye speech and she wasn't going to listen to it because he wasn't going to die. They were going to get out of here.

"No, no, you don't get to die. _Not today._" She said as she shook her head. "Not when you have three beautiful children to get home to. Not when you have _me _to get home to. This is _not _how you die." She protested emotionally as the other firefighters around them tried to maintain their own emotions at the scene in front of them but also do their job to get Casey out of there.

"Sylvie… you gave me my dream." Matt said with a quiet smile. "You _became_ my dream… and I love you more than anything. I love our babies more than anything and the life we have had together is more than I thought possible - however short it may seem." He said as Sylvie ran her hand over his face comfortingly. "I've been thinking about the fort building all morning – make sure they keep doing that babe. Make sure they keep going on adventures. Make sure they keep taking risks and chances. One of the best things we could ever give them as parents is memories. So make more memories babe. Make all the memories in the world."

"Matt Casey you are going to die when you are 99 years old and tucked up all warm in your bed." She made clear to him.

Matt smirked, "I don't know… going out in a blaze glory seems quite fitting."

"_I think surrounded by your dream sounds a whole lot better."_ She said without missing a beat, her forehead rested against the side of his head as her tears mixed with his.

"Good thing my dream is right in front of me." He said – before his eyes closed and his head flopped.

"_No… no, no, no, no, Matt, Matt_!" Sylvie screamed. She continued to scream for him as Stella pulled her away from him and the squad lifted Casey and rushed him outside.

Sylvie felt the life drain from her as soon as Matt was out of sight – and she collapsed into Stella's arms, praying that this had all been a bad dream.

* * *

"That one looks like an elephant!" Annie determined as she pointed to the sky at the clouds above them while she lay on her back on the grass in the garden.

"An elephant? No _way_! Definitely a platypus." Elliot decided as he lay beside her.

"A platypus?" Jack asked in disbelief. "It's definitely a cow… with an ice cream cone attached to his face!" Jack reasoned with a little laugh.

"An ice cream cone attached to his face?" Sylvie asked as she came and lay down beside them. "I think your guess reveals your hearts desires Jackie…"

Jack shrugged, "Well if ice cream is on the cards… I wouldn't say _no…_"

"Yeah mom, if ice cream is on the cards…" a voice at the end of the line they had formed on the grass said.

Sylvie turned her head and looked down the line and was met by a set of piercing blue eyes. She had been looking at his eyes for the 15 years that she had known him. For the first few years, she was looking into the eyes of a friend. Someone she knew she could always rely on. But it all changed the day she looked into his eyes and saw his _soul_. She saw his soul and it was _beautiful._ She looked into his eyes and saw her today, tomorrow and future. Eyes that truly made her heart _soar_ \- and now those eyes had multiplied in their children.

It had been three months since the warehouse fire. Three months since the scariest day of Sylvie's life. When she passed out in Stella's arms, she didn't wake up for another 6 hours. She figured it a mixture of physical and emotional exhaustion. When she woke up, she was greeted by Natalie Manning.

"_Hi. You're awake… so is Casey_." She'd told her with a smile as Sylvie felt the biggest wave of relief flow through her.

The pole hadn't gone through him as far as they'd anticipated and where it did penetrate, they were quickly able to fix. He would be off the job for a little while recovering, but they anticipated he would make a full one – and now he had a badass scar that his kids were obsessed with. They thought it was so cool and that their dad must be a superhero.

"I think I could be persuaded on the ice cream front…" Sylvie conceded as Matt smiled down the line at her with a toothy grin. Staring at the clouds and eating ice cream – it seemed so simple, but since the accident the Caseys made a point of treasuring these simple moments that would turn into lifetime memories, because they didn't know what the next day might bring.

"Ice cream it is then!" Annie announced as she jumped to her feet, pulled her brothers with her and bolted into the house.

Sylvie looked back down the grass as Matt, who smiled at her and gave her a characteristic wink that he often used as a sign of encouragement to her, and now a sign of love too.

Sylvie knew she would be adding that wink to the bank of memories she was building.


	15. Grocery Stores are Wooden Barns

**Grocery Stores and Wooden Barns**

"Mom? Dad?" Sylvie called through her childhood home as she balanced Jack on her hip and a bag over her shoulder. It was labour day weekend and Sylvie and Matt decided that it would be good to head back to Indiana for it. It had been a while since Sylvie had seen her parents and since they had seen their grandsons who had just hit a year old.

"_Oh my babies are here!"_ Sylvie heard her mother squeal from the kitchen as she turned to look at Matt with wide eyes as he smiled back at her over her mother's excitement.

"There they are!" Martha Brett said as she pursed her lips together and placed a hand over her heart. "My babies!" She walked forward and held her arms out for what Brett thought was a hug for her – but apparently not. She took Jack straight out of her arms as Sylvie awkwardly dropped her arms and her bag to the floor. "Oh my goodness Jack Casey you have gotten so big! And look at you Elliot!" she said as she kissed Elliot as Matt held him. "You know, it always astounds me that your boys can look so alike but so _different _at the same time. I mean they're twins after all!"

"Fraternal mom, they're supposed to look like brothers, not identical twins." Sylvie said with a little laugh. "And hi, by the way" she greeted, since her mother seemed to have forgotten that part.

"Hi sweetie" Martha said as she cupped Sylvie's cheek affectionately. Sylvie wouldn't call her mother overbearing, but she was borderline heading in that direction. She was a boisterous and incredibly loving woman, but she often just said what she was thinking without considering the consequences and often tried to butt in where she wasn't needed. "Hi Matt, how are you honey?"

"I'm good Martha, how are you?" he asked as he kissed his mother-in-law's cheek. Matt understood why Sylvie found her mother difficult at times, but he loved nothing more than coming back to Sylvie's childhood home and spending time with her parents. It was like he was getting a taste of the upbringing he never had. Besides, Sylvie's parents loved him – why wouldn't he want to soak all that up?

"Oh I'm much better now that you're all here." She said as she held Jack close to her. "Sylvie, I've been doing a little research on Chicago schools –"

"Mom, they just turned one, I don't think we need to worry about schools right now—"

"I'm just saying Sylvie, those places have waiting lists—"

"Mom. Let's just focus on the right now" Sylvie insisted as her dad came into the hallway. "The right now being this weekend and all the fun we're going to have" she said with a tight-lipped smile, not entirely convinced by her own words. "Hi dad"

"Hi honey" Peter Brett greeted as he hugged his daughter. "Hi Matt"

"Peter" Matt replied as he shook his hand with his free one.

"That was good timing, I was just about to head out to the store, pick up some things for the weekend. Can I get you two anything?"

"Peter, Sylvie and Matt can run to the store for us and we could look after the boys for a while" Martha suggested. She was desperate for some time with her grandsons.

Sylvie gulped, "Oh I don't know, they uh – they get a little bit of separation anxiety…" Sylvie lied as Matt eyed her curiously. What did she have against grocery stores?

"Oh nonsense Sylvie, they'll be fine." Martha said as she handed Jack to Peter and took Elliot from Matt. "Peter, give them the list and your credit card. Get whatever you want kids" she insisted as she ushered Elliot into the back of the house.

"They'll be fine, we have done this childcare thing before you know" Peter teased with a wink.

Sylvie smiled lightly, "I know, it's not that I just – never mind. We'll be back soon" she conceded as she took the list and Peter's card from him and followed Matt out the door.

Ten or so minutes later, Sylvie stood outside Fowlerton's main grocery store and gulped.

"This place gives me shivers…" Sylvie mumbled as she remained firmly footed at the entrance.

"… it's a grocery store babe." Matt said as he stood beside her with the trolley. How could a grocery store freak her out so much?

"It's not that it's a grocery store it's that it's this grocery store." Sylvie clarified. "It's that it's _Fowlerton's_ grocery store."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Matt asked with a shrug as he started to push the trolley into the store and Sylvie reluctantly dragged herself in behind him. She sighed and linked her arm under his, holding on to the bar with her grocery list in the other. "We could run into certain people that I have no desire running into. This isn't a big town Matt I would place money on us running into—"

"_Sylvie? Sylvie Brett?" _she heard a voice say behind her as she froze, causing Matt to jolt the trolley slightly.

Sylvie clenched her jaw before spinning on her heel and forcing a smile onto her face, _"… Hope. Hi"_

"Oh my god it really is you!" Hope said as she strutted forward and hugged Sylvie tightly. Matt too slowly turned around. It had been a long time since he'd seen Hope and quite honestly, he was praying they wouldn't accidentally run into her here. She really caused problems the last time she was in Chicago for Sylvie, so Matt really didn't have much patience for her. Sylvie was right though. It's a small town, he should have known better than to think they could avoid this little run in.

"You look _great_! I'd heard that you'd put on a little weight recently but apparently those rumours were entirely untrue!" Hope joked as Sylvie's eyes narrowed. Yes, she'd naturally put on a little bit of baby weight, but it wasn't noticeable to the naked eye let alone noticeable enough for rumours to start in Fowlerton. Besides, she'd lost it all since the twins were born! At the same time, however, she wasn't even_ remotely _surprised that such rumours were flying around.

Matt reached an arm around her back as she moved her hand and squeezed his hand in frustration. Matt let out a light groan at the strength of her hold but managed to keep it together as Hope eyed him curiously.

"Captain Matthew Casey…" Hope said as she took a step forward. She looked down at his hand and saw the wedding ring that adorned it. "I'm am shocked – and proud of course – that Sylvie managed to lock you down! And for so long too! How long have you two been married for now?"

"3 years" Sylvie told her with a tight lipped smile.

"Together for 5" Matt added for that extra ounce of authenticity.

"Well done Sylvie Brett!" Hope said with a wink. "You must have surpassed how long you were with Harrison by now, right? You've come leaps and bounds." She patronised. "I also heard that you had two little boys, congratulations! Your mom has been showing everybody in town pictures. And to think she was afraid she'd never get to be a grandmother."

"Man, you are really throwing the punches today Hope…" Sylvie grumbled as Matt let out a snort. It appeared Sylvie was most certainly over letting Hope walk all over her.

"Oh Sylvie, I'm not trying to be mean—" Hope protested innocently, but Sylvie immediately cut her off.

"Save it, Hope. It's a small town but we're only here for the weekend so I'm sure we can learn to peacefully co-exist for that short amount of time." Sylvie insisted before turning back to the trolley and pushing it away. Matt took one last look at Hope before turning around and following her.

Hope clenched her jaw, "Ok fine. I'll be sure to tell Kyle you said hello!"

Sylvie froze again, causing the trolley to jolt again and Matt to almost lost his footing behind her.

"Excuse me?" Sylvie asked as she turned back around. Matt gulped at the look of thunder over his wife's face.

"Oh yeah. We're married." Hope said as she held up her hand and flashed her ring. "Didn't you get your invite?"

Sylvie clenched the handle tighter, "Must have gotten lost in the mail."

"Oh, what a pity… anyway, enjoy your weekend, I'll maybe see you around." She said with a tight smirk before strutting away.

Matt looked at Sylvie in a moment of stunned silence. He really wasn't sure how to react to what just happened. He really didn't expect Hope to go so hard on the passive aggressive comments.

"Uh – you ok?" he asked as Sylvie just turned around and started to push the trolley again.

"_I'm fine."_ She said through her teeth. "Kyle is free to make whatever choices he wants to, it's just the fact that she said it to try and provoke a reaction out of me. Anything she says is just so _malicious_." She said quietly as Matt rested his hand on her shoulder and kissed her head.

"I know it's hard seeing her, but she isn't a part of your life. What she does is entirely her prerogative and doesn't deserve a second thought from you. You have a wonderful life Sylvie Brett – don't let anyone make you feel like you don't."

"I love you" she told him quietly as Matt leaned down and kissed her quickly but tenderly.

"I love you too"

Sylvie sighed and let Matt take over pushing the trolley again. "The only thing that could make this worse would be if we ran into—"

"_Sylvie?" _

"Dear God…" Sylvie grumbled. Somebody definitely had it in for her. She looked towards the end of the aisle and glared deeply_. "Harrison. Hi_." She responded.

Harrison looked her up and down like some sort of vulture which really did not sit well with Casey. Sylvie could see him tense beside her and she rested her hand on top of his to try and calm him.

"I heard you were in town. I'm surprised you're not hiding out at your parent's house to avoid running in to all the people you tossed aside." Harrison shot.

"Wow, you couldn't even do the pleasantries you had to go straight in with the heavy blows." Sylvie said with a laugh.

"I'm just saying it how it is—"

"Ok, well then it's my turn to say it how it is too. Fowlerton is where I grew up. I have so many wonderful memories here. I also have some not so good memories but I am in no mood to hide from them. My past is my past and I am so unbelievably happy with my life right now. So, if I want to come back to my hometown, I will come back to my hometown and I will go wherever the hell I want to go and not be intimidated by insecure weasels like you!" she snapped as Harrison took a step back and Matt looked at her with wide, but insanely proud eyes.

Harrison scoffed, "You've changed Sylvie. And not for the better." He merely responded before turning on his heel and storming away.

"This is why I hate this grocery store…" Sylvie grumbled as she once again took the trolley and stormed away.

Matt stood there for a moment, unsure what to say; "… that was kinda hot." He called after her as Sylvie turned her head and smirked at him before teasingly snaking her hips.

_God_, _did he love her._

* * *

That evening, while Martha and Peter put Jack and Elliot to bed, Matt and Sylvie decided to take a stroll around her parent's farm. It was a beautiful piece of land and Sylvie loved to play out here when she was little. Being here now with Matt made it that little bit more special.

"Have you had a nice weekend so far?" Sylvie asked as Matt held onto her hand.

"It's been – _interesting."_ He said with a little laugh. "I know you find it hard being here, but there's a lot to be thankful for in this place. Even just seeing your smile right now as we walk around these grounds."

Sylvie nodded her head as her smile rose again, "I know I talk about this place like it was a prison for me – and in a way it was – but I have a lot of good memories here too. I grew up here, my childhood was spent running around in these fields. My family are here, and I love that our boys can come here and love it in the same way I did."

Matt kissed her hand and nodded his head, "Me too. You know – I would have loved to have seen you as a child"

Sylvie laughed, "I was very giggly, a little shy… but I was also determined."

"Sounds like you haven't changed much."

"There's a little more fire in my soul now." She said with a wink. "You know… I've never brought a boy out onto these fields…" Sylvie said as she turned around to stand in front of her husband.

"Is that so?"

Sylvie nodded, "Yep… I mustn't have thought Harrison was worthy. Or Kyle."

Matt placed a hand over his heart, "Well then I feel truly honoured that you brought me out here Sylvie Brett."

"You should…" she said as she leaned up and kissed him. She then eyed him deviously before pulling him along, round behind the barn at the end of the field.

Sylvie leaned up and kissed him passionately, her hands roaming through his hair as his slid around her thighs and under her dress. Matt scooped her up and her legs expertly latched around his waist as he turned them around and let her back hit the wooden wall of the barn.

Matt removed his lips from her briefly as Sylvie's hand moved to his belt buckle, the other around his shoulder, holding herself steady. "Huh – if we get caught –" he began, all of a sudden feeling like a teenager again, sneaking around where he shouldn't be. This time, he was sneaking around with his wife – and there was something a little more thrilling about that.

"I'm already the talk of Fowlerton babe – what's one more moment of delinquency to add to the list?" she challenged as Matt smirked and kissed her again.

Maybe Fowlerton wasn't such a bad place to be after all.


	16. Genetics

**Genetics**

16-year-old Annie Casey looked out of the back-seat car window at the storm that was brewing around them. The rain was pouring from the sky and the wind was beginning to pick up too.

"How much longer?" Annie asked her parents in the front seat of the car.

"About an hour" Matt told her as he continued to focus on the road ahead. His view was slowly reducing in these conditions and he had been debating for a while whether it would be best to pull over and let it pass.

"What's the weather like in Fowlerton, ma?" Elliot asked from the back seat.

"I don't think it's as bad as this…" Sylvie said with a grimace. After a little bit of persuasion, she and Matt had managed to convince their kids to take a trip to Fowlerton this weekend. They hadn't been in a while and they loved taking occasional trips there, but this weather was seriously putting them off.

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the weather was like this" Jack commented with a shrug as his siblings looked at him to elaborate. "Then we'd have to stay in the house all weekend and mom wouldn't have to worry about running in to anybody in grocery stores" he teased, knowing all about his mother's unfortunate run ins over the years.

"Oh very funny Jack…" Sylvie said sarcastically as Matt smirked. "Honey it's getting really bad out, maybe we should pull over –"

"Dad, look out!" Elliot suddenly said as Matt slammed on the breaks and the car came to a halt. All 5 Caseys leaned forward to look at the scene in front of them – three cars had slammed into each other in the middle of the storm.

"Oh my god…" Matt grumbled as he and Sylvie undid their belts. "Elliot, call 9-1-1"

"I don't have any signal" Elliot told him as they all desperately looked at their phones – but got nothing.

"Ok, stay here, we'll deal with this" Sylvie said as she and Matt jumped out of the car and ran to the scene.

Jack, Elliot and Annie all looked at each other for a brief moment before they too undid their belts and jumped out of the car. There was no way their parents could deal with this on their own – no matter how good first responders they were – they needed help in whatever way that might look like.

When they jumped out of the car, they surveyed the scene in front of them in shock. Where did they even _begin? _

"OK, we need a plan" Sylvie said as she rallied her family around. "We need to make sure we get to every car and account for every victim."

"It's not going to be much good if we can't get them to hospitals, where's the nearest one?" Elliot asked.

"Probably Reynolds Memorial, about 5 miles out from here" Sylvie told him. "We can't get our car past this scene."

"Let me help!" someone shouted from behind as they saw a victim stagger from one of the cars. "I'm ok, I just think I broke my nose from the airbag but I'm fine – let me go get help."

Sylvie quickly examined him and saw he seemed with it, so they nodded and let the guy go get help – what else could they do in this situation?

"Ok, we check every car, we assess their injuries, we report back to me or mom, got it?" Matt ordered his kids as they nodded their heads and ran towards the scene.

Annie made her way towards and tipped over car. She climbed up the side of it and looked through the window to find a little boy and his mother.

"Noah! Noah!" his mother was calling. She appeared to have a pretty bad head laceration and her leg was trapped under the steering column. Miraculously, the little boy seemed to be in ok shape. A few cuts and bruises her and there but he seemed ok.

"Mom!"

"Hi, hi, my name's Annie, help is on it's way." She assured them.

"Is my son ok?"

"What's your name ma'am?"

"Elise, my son is Noah!"

"Ok Elise, Noah looks ok, just a few cuts and bruises. You have a head lack that's going to need patched up a little, I will be right back" Annie told her as she hopped off the car and ran over to Sylvie who was dealing with a victim of her own from the first aid kit she liked to keep in the back of the car.

"Mom, I have a woman with a head lac, do you have any gauze and tape?"

"Yeah sweetie, here, be careful." She warned. She'd trained her kids in first aid from when they were little, so she knew they would be fine on that front, but in these conditions anything went.

"I will!" Annie assured her as she moved her now soaking wet blonde hair out of her face and ran back to the car.

She quickly closed over the wound for the time being, trying to make sure the gauze stuck despite the rain that was lashing through the windows. When she was done, Elise grabbed her arm.

"Stay with my son. Please. Talk to him, keep him calm." She begged as Annie nodded her head. She manoeuvred herself across the car she had climbed and towards Noah.

"Hey Noah, how you doing?"

"I'm scared!" he admitted.

"I know you are buddy but everything is going to be ok, help is coming!" she shouted over the storm. "How old are you Noah?"

"6"

"Wow, you are so brave, I'm not sure I would have been so brave when I was 6!" Annie told him with a smile, trying to be as encouraging as she can and to shift the conversation beyond his fear. "What do you like to do in school?"

"I like science"

"Really? I like science too. I want to be a doctor one day" Annie told him.

"Me too!" he said proudly. "What kind of doctor?"

"I think one that works in the emergency room. What about you?"

"A heart doctor!" he said as Annie smiled. "I think you'd make a really good doctor." He complimented.

"Thank you Noah, I think you'd make a pretty awesome doctor too." She said with a wink.

Meanwhile, Elliot approached a car and rapped on the window at a middle-aged woman in the driver's seat, she looked a little out of it, but appeared to be conscious.

"Hey! Hey, are you ok?" he asked as she nodded her head and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Some asshole was speeding along here I mean – who does that in such terrible conditions?! Then again, what sort of person am I to be out here at all?" she asked as she started to get emotional.

"What's your name?" he asked as he tried to pull on the door handle but with little luck.

"Maggie"

"Ok Maggie—" Elliot began, but froze. He spotted that she was holding something to her neck. "Do you have a cut on your neck?" he asked calmly. Maggie nodded her head and removed the cloth to reveal a slice across it and a lot of blood.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold this here." She told him as she began to become weaker and weaker.

"Ok the blood isn't pumping out of it, so that's a good sign." Elliot assured. It meant she hadn't clipped anything vital. "But you need to keep pressure on it."

Elliot looked around the crash sight for Matt; "Dad! What tools do we have?"

"I don't know, check the boot!" he called back from the victim he was dealing with. Elliot ran to the car and opened the boot and rummaged around through Matt's construction equipment. He managed to find a pipe that could potentially act as a makeshift crowbar to get the door open. He rushed back and wedged it in the car door and pushing with all of his strength. After a few attempts, he managed to get it open, just as Elise was getting weaker and weaker.

"Ok, let me" he said as he took the cloth from her and began applying pressure to the wound.

"I'm really sorry about this…" Elise apologised.

"You're going to be fine Elise. Just fine."

While Elliot tried to ensure the bleeding didn't get too much, Jack rushed over to a car with a young girl at the wheel.

_"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"_ she panicked as she burst into tears. Jack looked her over and there didn't appear to be any obvious injuries.

"Hey, I'm Jack. What's your name?"

"Emerson."

"Ok Emerson, are you in pain anywhere?"

"Just my_ heart!_ My _stupid_ ass boyfriend dumped me tonight forcing me to drive in this storm!" she exclaimed as Jack grimaced and jumped back slightly at her outburst.

"Ok, you're fine…"

Emerson's head shot round and she looked at Jack; "Hey… you're kinda cute."

Jack gave her a lopsided smirk, _"Kinda?"_

"Let's not get too big for our boots Captain America." She said with an eye roll.

"Well when you call me Captain America—"

Suddenly, there was a huge crash around them as sparks flew from the telephone pole and it began to topple over. Jack looked down at his feet and realised he was standing in a significant amount of water. If the electricity travelled, he would be done for.

"Oh man uh—" he looked around him before making a snap decision to jump up onto the top of the car.

He looked around him and saw that the rest of his family had done the same thing. Even Elliot was on top of Elise's car, while leaning through the open door to continue applying pressure on her wound.

"Are you all ok?!" Matt shouted over the storm.

They all nodded.

"What are we going to do?!" Elliot shouted back.

"We hope to God that this guy comes back with some help." Sylvie replied, a little downhearted. It seemed like an impossible situation – but they had to do what they could.

"Elliot…" Elise mumbled from the car as he focused his attention back on her. "It's ok…"

Elliot shook his head, "No, no you need to stay awake Elise, stay away. I'm sure you have people out there who love you and I'm not going to look them in the eye and tell them that you died in my arms. You're going to look them in the eye and tell them that you survived this."

"You're a tough cookie…"

Elliot scoffed, "It's genetic." He certainly wasn't about to claim credit for his sense of bravery and toughness – that was all his parents. He made a mental note to thank them for instilling such strength in him since he was little.

* * *

After waiting for what felt like a lifetime, they could hearing sirens blaring in the distance and lights flashing.

Annie let out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding in, "Thank _god…_"

The electric was turned off from the fallen pole and the Caseys all jumped off their cars, took a step back and watched the responders take care of everything. They just stood in a stunned silence as the rain poured down them, not having the energy to move. Eventually they all looked at one another before Annie sighed and pulled them all into the biggest hug.

"We are so stupidly proud of you three." Sylvie told them in the hug. She always knew her kids were incredibly bold and brave - but tonight proved it.

"Definitely genetic" Annie said with a little laugh.

"I'm proud of you all too…" Jack said as he pulled back from them all slightly. "But just that little bit more proud of me – I got the number of the girl I was helping" he said as he held up a slightly mushy piece of card with one of his infamous Jack Casey smirks.

"_Jack!" _


	17. Clowns

**This is based around a suggestion from a guest reviewer. A slight twist on what they were looking for, so I hope it's ok! Enjoy **

**Clowns **

It was the day of the annual CFD picnic, and everyone was excited to enjoy the day outside together in the sun before the bitter Chicago winter hit them. The fact that there was an all you could eat BBQ also helped sweeten the deal.

While everyone was excited for it, there was no one more excited than Jack and Elliot. They loved the picnic. There was so much to do and they got to hang out with firehouse 51 who were basically their idols.

"It's going to be so cool mom!" Jack exclaimed as he walked with his family towards the picnic. "There's a bouncy castle, a magic show—"

"Oh! And the obstacle course. Jack and I have been practicing our sprints, we've got this in the bag!" Elliot added excitedly.

Sylvie laughed, "You sure do boys" she said as she looked over at Matt who was smiling just as widely at his boys' excitement.

"Don't worry Annie" Jack said as he stopped at looked at his sister who was sleeping soundly in her baby carrier that Matt has strapped to his chest. "You can join team unstoppable next year. Oo, Uncle Sev!" Jack shouted when he saw his uncle and darted towards him with Elliot close behind.

"Hey boys!" Severide greeted as he scooped them up in his arms.

"Are you going to watch us on the obstacle course this year?!" Elliot asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" he told them with a little laugh before setting them down. The boys ran off to help Emily with the bean bag toss – after all these years she still hadn't managed to perfect it.

"Annie couldn't hack the excitement, huh?" Severide asked as he peered in at the 7-month-old baby against Matt's chest.

"The boys woke her up accidentally last night because they were so excited about this picnic. Couldn't get her back over" Matt explained. It was safe to say he and Sylvie were beyond tried right now.

"I reckon they'll wear themselves out with all this excitement so it can be an early night for you both." Severide encouraged before patting Matt on the arm and walking over to the others.

"I appreciate Severide's optimism but once the boys clock on that there's a sweetie cart we are done for." Sylvie said with a pout.

"Oh yeah…" Matt grumbled.

"Mom, mom!" Jack shouted. "You have to come see this, come on!"

"What is it?" Sylvie asked as she tried to see what Jack was so excited about, but couldn't past the crowd of people.

Matt, however, could see it clear as day. His face fell and he gulped and reached an arm out to stop Sylvie walking forward. "I don't think you want to go over there babe…"

Sylvie eyed Matt curiously, "… why not? Jack wants me to."

"And he'll forgive you for not going…" Matt reasoned as he tried to turn his wife away.

Sylvie let out a laugh, "Matt… what are you doing?!" she asked as she dug her heels into the ground.

"Sylvie—"

Sylvie turned around and stormed forward with Matt quickly on her tail. When she realised what Jack was so excited about she stopped abruptly where she stood and gulped, causing Matt to almost trip over her.

"Sylvie… it's ok. It won't hurt you."

"It's uh – it's fine. It's totally fine." Sylvie mumbled. "I uh – Annie could probably do with a diaper change—" she began. She tried to turn around by Matt stopped her.

"Sylvie, I think it's time you faced your fear." Matt encouraged. "It's just a clown."

Sylvie turned around and looked at the clown her sons were animatedly engaging with. "You remember the killer clown phase of 2016?"

"… yes, but they weren't actually killer clowns, it was just people dressing up as clowns—"

"Not to mention IT—"

"Not real—"

"Oh god, I can't." Sylvie said as she tried to run away, but Matt quickly stopped her again.

"No running away. Remember last year when Jack was afraid of the dark? You made sure he gathered all the facts about the dark, you encouraged him to confront the dark and he's not afraid anymore. He realises that there is nothing to fear – you need to take your own advice. You need to face your fear of clowns in the same way, a little bit of exposure therapy could work wonders."

"What facts? They're evil and set out to scare children." Sylvie protested. "I mean, look at them!" she said as they looked over at the clown. "They paint their faces to constantly appear like they are smiling and happy, it hides their true emotions, it's a total distortion and it's creepy." She reasoned. "Actually kind of sad when you think about…"

"Exactly!" Matt said, thinking that was progress. I mean, it wasn't ideal that she was feeling sorry for them, but for her purposes it was better that than being afraid. "Look at them – they're not here to hurt people. They're hear to entertain and while they're maybe not the most entertaining acts in the world – that's all they're trying to do."

"Mom, dad, come on! He's got some super cool tricks!" Elliot now encouraged as Sylvie took a deep breath and held her head high.

"Ok. Let's go confront some clowns." She said with determination in her voice as she powered forward towards the scene.

"Momma, look!" Elliot said excitedly as he grabbed Sylvie's hand and pulled her closer to the clown. She soon felt Matt's hand on her shoulder, and it was all the comfort she needed.

The clown lifted out some balloons and started to fashion various shapes out of them. The boys were in awe. Who knew you could do that with a balloon without it popping?!

Sylvie subtly turned to Matt, "They better not ask for a clown for their birthday…" she mumbled as Matt chuckled.

_POP_.

The balloon the clown was working on burst causing everyone to jump slightly. Matt looked down at Annie and saw her little face scrunch up.

"Oh no…"

Suddenly, her screams filled the park as Matt closed his eyes with a big sigh while Sylvie grimaced.

"… I hate clowns." Matt concluded before walking away, gently bouncing his daughter to calm her down.

Sylvie looked back at the clown who gave her a creepy smile and a wave. She shivered involuntarily before turning and walking away.

"Yeah. Me too."


	18. Chilli

**Chilli **

It was a cool Saturday evening at Firehouse 51 and the squad were getting ready for one of the greatest nights of the year – the chilli cook-off. Since the competition began in 2002, the overly competitive side of each member of the firehouse appeared at full throttle and they didn't doubt that this year would be any different.

For the past few years, Brett had managed to get this shift off work. She didn't fancy sleeping in the bunk room with a bunch of guys after they'd eaten a copious amount of beans. This year she hadn't planned any different. She would stay at home, Emily and Stella would come over, they would watch a movie with the kids, get them to bed and then enjoy some girl time. But as luck would have it, she got the dates mixed up and now they were stuck in the firehouse at the mercy of the chilli.

"Ok everybody listen up!" Boden announced as he walked into the lounge. "It is time to get the chilli cook off started. You know the rules, I don't think I need to reiterate them, but – we do have a slight change this year. We have a special guest judge." He said as everyone's ears perked. "Our judge is someone that I know has impeccable taste and incredibly high chilli standards. So please, show some respect for Miss Annie Casey." He said as Annie walked out and everyone slow clapped her.

She smiled proudly, "Thank you gentlemen. My taste buds may be that of a ten-year-old, but I can assure you – know a good chilli when I taste one." She boasted as everyone smirked. Annie was a funny little girl. She was so bright and in tune with everyone around her. She had a bold, sarcastic sense of humour but was also so very sweet, just like her mom.

"Don't you think this is a little unfair?" Joe challenged. "She is _clearly_ bias…" he said as he motioned over to Brett and Casey as they leaned against the back counter.

Casey smirked, "Blood is thicker than water, right hun?" he teased towards Annie. He'd like to think that his daughter would be sympathetic towards his chilli, she claimed that it was delicious!

"Sorry daddy…" Annie began as Casey's face fell. "I will be completely fair throughout this _entire_ process." She made clear.

"Ok… but I'm just saying that genetics are stronger than you think." Casey reasoned. "My girl's got Casey taste buds, she knows good chilli when she tastes it."

Brett quirked an eyebrow, "What about Brett taste buds?"

Casey scrunched up his nose, "Redundant against Casey taste buds." He concluded as Brett glared at him and playfully shoved him away.

"Annie what are you looking for in flavour?" Gallo asked as everyone listened in intently.

"Uh… something tasty. Obviously." Annie replied with a furrowed brow. "I can say no more because the last thing we want is repetitive chilli making – I don't want to taste the same thing 8 times over."

Boden smirked, "What can I say? I had to bring in the expert this year" he said as Annie giggled. "Ok, judging commences at 8 – away you go."

Casey quickly turned to Brett, "We need to switch partners."

Brett quirked an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest, "And why would we need to do that? I thought your taste buds were better than mine?"

"They are" he teased further as she rolled her eyes. "But our judge is half me half you – think of the power a Brett-Casey chilli would have" he reasoned with his wife.

Brett looked at Casey like he'd lost his mind. "This chilli making thing has gone way too far into the overly competitive zone."

"Yet I don't see you cooking mom" they heard Annie say beside them as they turned to look at her. "And I know neither of like you to lose. Need I remind you of a particularly competitive football game last weekend?" she asked as both Brett and Casey looked to their feet. 51 had challenged another house to a football match last weekend and naturally, 51 won, but Annie and her brothers had never seen their parents go so hard for a game. They were like wild animals.

"Ok, we get it, we're competitive monsters…" Brett held her hands up and admitted. "So I guess we better team up then." She conceded.

Casey smiled, "Let's get to it – Annie, you'll know it's ours when we taste it because it is going to blow your mind." He warned his daughter as she giggled and nodded her head.

"Oh keep wishing old man…" she teased as Casey pouted. Annie was mean when she was judging…

* * *

8pm came around before anybody realised and it was time to judge the chilli. Everybody placed their pots down and stepped back. They were proud of their achievements and each were convinced they had produced the best chilli.

"Ok, let's go, winner takes all" Cruz said as he held up the hat full of money.

"Annie, if you would do the honours" Boden said as he handed her the box with the special chilli tasting spoon.

They all watched intensely as Annie went around, tasting each of the chilli, and giving very little away by her facial expression. The moment she tasted her parents' chilli, she knew exactly whose it was. Not because of the taste, but because of the hopeful expressions across their face. When she finished, she pondered over it for a brief moment before turning around to face everyone.

"We have a very clear winner chief" she told Boden who motioned for her to continue.

She turned the winning pot around with a smile, "Pot number 5"

Everyone groaned and Brett and Casey looked on in horror.

"_Honey_!" Brett whined. "Your taste buds failed you."

"Oh they didn't fail me. Yours was amazing, but this one… _wow_. Outstanding work."

"Who is pot number 5?" Hermann asked as nobody came forward to claim it.

"That would be ours, thank you very much" they heard a voice behind them say as they turned around to see Jack and Elliot take the money from Hermann.

"Boys – what are you doing here?" Casey asked his teenage sons. He thought they were at home for a night.

"When we heard about the impending chilli competition, we decided we couldn't miss out on an opportunity to make some cash" Elliot explained as Jack sorted through the money.

"_Easily_ I might add." Jack said with a laugh as he and Elliot fist bumped.

"_Unbelievable_…" Annie grumbled with an eyeroll.

"Hold on…" Brett said as she walked towards her boys. "Since when do you two know how to cook?"

"That's the beauty of it – we don't!" Jack said with a laugh.

"We just showed up, found a recipe and went with it… turns out we have a bit of a knack for chilli" Elliot said proudly.

"If all else fails, I think we could make it as a famous cooking brother duo" Jack agreed.

Brett smirked, "This is perfect… now you can cook at home!"

Elliot and Jack's faces fell at the same time, "Oh no… no, no, that's not what this is about, this is just a money-making venture, I don't remember signing up to any hidden clauses—"

"Well now that we know what excellent chefs you are, why wouldn't we exploit that?" Casey asked.

"And why wouldn't you want to feed your family boys?" Annie added, loving the torture this was causing for the boys.

"Better yet – you should come and cook for all of us here at 51." Hermann suggested as they groaned.

Jack clenched his jaw and slammed the money back into the hat, "We just wanted some cash. None of this!" he said as he stormed out of the lounge.

Elliot snatched the money up, "But we'll still gratefully take this, thanks Annie" he said with a wave of the cash before rushing out after his brother.

"This – is an amazing discovery." Brett said with a little gleeful clap.

"What? That the boys can actually _read_?" Annie taunted, poking fun at the fact that her brothers actually managed to read a recipe.

"No…" Brett said sending Annie a warning glare. "My boys can cook!"

Annie nodded, "Yeah, at least they're good for something – but certainly not much else."

"_Annie!"_


	19. Family First

**Family First**

Annie ran through Chicago Med's ER department and down to one of the trauma rooms. A huge fire had happened downtown, and multiple casualties were reported. While many of them went to Lakeshore, a small number were brought down to Med. As a trauma surgical resident, and the only one on call today, Annie knew she would have her hands full.

Unsurprisingly, the Casey kids had really made a name for themselves in emergency services. Jack and Elliot were a daring duo at Firehouse 51. Under the direction of Blake Gallo in Squad 3, they saved countless lives across the city. Then there was Annie. If Jack and Elliot did the big saves, Annie was the one who put them back together at Med. Sylvie and Matt were incredibly proud of them. Naturally, they worried, particularly about the boys who had a nasty habit of thinking they were indestructible. As Chief of 51, Casey was particularly cautious about keeping an eye on them.

"What have we got?" Annie asked as she appeared at the door while a nurse helped get her gown and gloves on.

"Casey, where have you been? I've sent you three pages!" Dr. Boyd demanded to know.

"Annie—" her fellow doctor Finn Masterson began. He wanted to warn her before she went in. He'd tried to tell Dr. Boyd that she shouldn't be here but he just didn't listen.

Annie looked past Finn and straight at Boyd glared deeply at him, "I've been in surgery, you know, doing my job – _oh my god." She_ said as she walked forward and looked at the patient on the bed.

"Casey what is the problem? We don't have time for this, get in here!" Boyd demanded as Annie remained frozen at the end of the bed.

"The _problem?_" Annie challenged as the rage flowed through her body. "The problem is you've just paged me down here to perform surgery on my _father_ you jackass!" she exclaimed as Annie looked back at Matt as he lay on the bed, out cold. Annie shook her head at the ridiculousness of this – he was supposed to retire tonight. This was his last shift.

"Father?" Boyd questioned. "Masterson!" he exclaimed. He was the one who he'd told to send the page through, he should have said something!

"I tried to tell you sir, but you wouldn't listen—" Finn defended.

Boyd sighed, "You're the only trauma surgeon on staff Casey."

Annie looked at him in complete disbelief. He wasn't seriously suggesting that she provide medical care to her father when she was in such a state of shock and anger?

"What the hell happened to him?" Annie asked quietly.

"A roof collapsed on top of him during a warehouse fire." Finn explained with a gulp.

"I uh – I need to find my mom." Annie made clear as she rushed out of the trauma area to find Sylvie. As she was running she lifted out her phone and saw that she had a bunch of missed calls from her family.

"Casey!" Boyd called, but Finn snapped right at him.

"Dr. Boyd! This is her father lying here. Have you completely forgotten the ethics of being a doctor? You can't seriously expect her to stay in here and help!"

"We need all the hands we can get!"

"I'm not going to sit here and argue with you about this. Maybe you weren't that close with your father but the whole Casey family practically live out of each other's pockets. Annie cannot be here for this."

Annie ran into the waiting and immediately saw all of Firehouse 51 waiting for news on their chief. She desperately looked around and spotted one of the people she was looking for.

"Elliot" she called as her brother turned around and let out a breath of relief at the sight of his sister.

"Ann" he said as she rushed forward and hugged him.

"Where's mom?" Annie asked desperately as she looked around her and couldn't see Sylvie. Naturally, considering the state her father was in, she assumed the worst.

"She's on her way, she's transporting some other victims in the ambo." Elliot assured her.

Annie ran a hand through her hair, "What the hell was he doing in there? His back is not strong enough to deal with these kinds of jobs!" she reasoned. Matt Casey was one of the best firefighters the CFD ever had – but he was old now. He'd seen a lot, he'd been through a lot and he wasn't as fit and agile as he used to be.

Elliot scoffed, "Annie you know him. When he sets his mind on something there's no stopping him."

"Well then you and Jack should have had his back! What happened to being the dynamic duo?" Annie shouted, gaining the attention of the other firefighters in the waiting area. She knew it probably wasn't fair to blame her brothers, but she was so mad. She just needed to get her frustration out on something or in this case – someone.

Gallo stepped forwards, "Annie, this is not your brothers' fault—"

"Stay out of this Lieutenant." Annie warned. She wasn't about to pick a fight with the whole of 51 over this. "Where the hell is Jack?"

"I'm here." Jack said sheepishly as she walked towards his siblings. He gulped as he looked at his feet. He was so ashamed of what happened back there. He knew he couldn't have controlled the roof falling, but he was certain there was probably something else he could do. And now his sister was standing in front of him, completely terrified for her dad.

Annie scoffed and folded her arms, "You're looking a little guilty Jack."

"… I told him the roof was secure enough. I made a bad call." Jack said as his voice cracked.

"Damn right you did." Annie replied.

"No, he didn't, he assessed the situation and I would have made the same call. It was dad's choice to go into that warehouse, no one else's." Elliot defended.

"Don't defend him—" Annie began as the three Caseys started to loudly talk over the top of one another right there and then. They were all bold characters and that led to some explosive confrontations from time to time.

As they continued to fight, Sylvie walked in and was taken aback by the scene in front of her. She looked at the other firefighters, wondering why they hadn't bothered to break this up, but then she remembered the golden rule in the firehouse – you never get in the middle of a Casey family dispute. If you try, you'll somehow become collateral damage.

Sylvie then decided it was time for a little parent intervention, _"HEY!"_ she screamed as all three of them stopped and their heads snapped round to look at Sylvie.

Sylvie gritted her teeth; "Anyone with the surname Casey, over there, now." She ordered as they all dragged their feet and stormed over to the empty family room at the side.

As soon as Elliot closed the door behind them, Sylvie pounced; "What the _hell_ do you three think you are doing? Screaming at each other in a hospital waiting room, _my god_ you would think you were 5 years old!"

"Mom—" Annie began to defend, but Sylvie held up a hand.

"I don't want to hear it. There is no point sitting here placing blame on what happened to your dad. We should be focusing on him and making sure that he is ok. I know you are scared I know you are worried but this is not how we do things. We stick together and support each other—_always."_ Sylvie said, finally letting her emotions over Casey's condition get to her. She'd managed to stay strong right until this moment, but seeing her children standing in front of her, scared beyond belief was enough to set her off and for her composure to drop.

Annie gulped and looked at her brothers, "… I'm sorry. I know you weren't to blame. I just—I was in shock. I was the trauma surgeon called to attend to dad. They didn't realise who he was to me. I wasn't expecting to see him lying there. I was mad and I took it out on you."

Jack rested his hand on Annie's shoulder, "You don't need to apologise. Mom's right. We have to stick together. Dad's going to be fine. He's always fine."

* * *

Matt successfully made through surgery and was now in the ICU. The doctors were hopeful for his recovery, but it was a waiting game at this stage. He was still in a critical condition and they could only hope he would pull through.

After taking a quick water break, Sylvie came back into Matt's room that evening and found her three kids all fast asleep on the sofa that sat to the side of the room. They were like dominos – Annie was asleep on Elliot's shoulder and Jack was asleep on Annie's. She smiled softly at the sight. They used to fall asleep together all the time as kids. It was nice to be reminded of that in the midst of their fear.

Sylvie walked over to Matt's bed and sat on the chair beside it before taking his hand.

"The last time you were in a position like this, you tried to give me the I'm dying speech, but now you can't so this time you're just going to let me talk." Sylvie said, remembering all those years ago when the pole went straight through him. Sylvie couldn't help but find it ironic that he said it wouldn't be so bad for him to go out in a blaze of glory, considering the position he was in right now. She also found it ironic that she told him he should die surrounded by his dream – and here he was, surrounded by the loves of his life. "I told you that you were going to die when you 99 and warm in your bed, surrounded by the people you love most in this world – and I meant that. Please don't leave me. Not yet. We have a lot more memories to make in this new phase of your life." She said as the tears filled her eyes. "You have been by my side for 30 years Matt Casey – _we're not done yet. _So please_. _Open those blue eyes that I love so much."

Sylvie lifted his hand to her lips and closed her eyes, the tears streaming past her closed eyelids and down her cheeks as she placed a lingering kiss on his hand.

While she was in her bubble, Elliot stirred awake behind her and looked at the scene in front of him. His heart broke for his mom. He had never seen a couple more in love than his parents and he couldn't bare to see that love taken away from his mom. He looked over Sylvie's shoulder at Matt – and suddenly felt a lot more awake by what he saw.

"Dad." He mumbled as he noticed Matt's eyes flicker open. "Annie, Jack wake up – mom, mom, look." He said as she shoved his siblings awake who grumpily protested.

Sylvie quickly raised her head as Elliot moved behind her and saw Matt's blue eyes staring back at her.

"Matt" she said in a breath.

"Elliot, what the hell are you shoving us for?" Jack asked as he and Annie rubbed their eyes.

"Guys, he's awake, come on" Elliot said as they suddenly jumped up off the sofa and over to the bed.

Matt gave out a weak smile when he saw his family in front of him.

"… boy am I glad to see you four." He grumbled out as everyone's emotions got the better of them and their eyes watered.

"Welcome back chief" Jack jokingly called Matt.

"… that's _dad_ to you Casey." Matt replied as they all held onto each other, feeling more thankful for each other than ever.


	20. First Heartbreak

**First Heartbreak **

It was a Saturday night and Matt and Sylvie weren't due at the firehouse until Monday, so they decided to make what was a rare trip to Molly's to spend some time with their friends. Now that their kids were grown up – the boys in their senior year of college and Annie in junior year of high school – Matt and Sylvie found themselves with a lot more free-time in their hands. It was strange to go from being kept constantly on their toes by their bubbly kids to having relaxing nights in, just the two of them. This was why they decided to take full advantage of a night off and head out for a change.

Once they got there, they were immediately greeted by Stella and Severide who cheered their friends for actually making it out. All too often they resorted to staying in and watching TV for an evening. Severide insisted that they were still young enough to get out there and enjoy life – Matt Casey's old man knees begged to differ.

Halfway through their evening, Sylvie's phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She lifted it out and saw Jack's name flash across the screen.

"Hi honey, you ok?" she asked, wondering why her son would be calling her on a Saturday night. It was much more his style to go AWOL at the weekend and then call on Monday pretending like Sylvie hadn't been desperately messaging him for at least an hello.

"He-hey mom!" she said with an awkward laugh. "I'm good, funny story though…"

Sylvie sighed. What had he done now? Jack wasn't a bad guy by any stretch of the imagination. He was incredibly sweet – but the biggest troublemaker you could imagine. He was always getting himself into binds in the name of having a good time – and his dashing good looks and charming smirk often meant he got away with it.

"So, I came home to steal some food—" he began as Sylvie ran a hand over her forehead.

_"Jack._" She scolded. That was a bad start already. Sylvie was food shopping for three people these days since the boys moved out for college. If something was missing from the fridge, she knew who to blame. Jack made it a habit of sneaking in and our undetected.

"But that's really _not_ important right now, you can scold me later. So, I was raiding the fridge – great risotto by the way – and as I was raiding, Annie came home. I said hello and I noticed her eyes looked a little bloodshot and she just stared at me for a second before bursting into tears and running upstairs." Jack explained as Sylvie frowned, catching the attention of Matt who looked at her concerned.

"Oh…" she mumbled. What could have upset her daughter so much?

"I mean – I don't think it's me but I also wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if it was me…" he replied, knowing he knew exactly how to push his sibling's buttons. But he hadn't seen Annie in a week, so surly it wasn't him this time. "I was going to check on her but I'm kind of scared to go in… thought maybe you or dad would be better at handling this one."

"Ok honey, thanks for calling us, we'll be home soon." Sylvie said as she and Jack hung up.

"What's up?" Matt immediately asked as Sylvie grabbed their coats from the stool beside her and stood up.

"Annie just came home in floods of tears…" Sylvie told him quietly.

Matt frowned, "She was out with Austin tonight. Maybe something happened with him?" he asked, referring to Annie's boyfriend of just over a year. Sylvie and Matt liked Austin. He was a sweet boy, an all-star football player and they trusted that Annie had good judgement.

Sylvie nodded her head as she and Matt quickly left the bar to go to their daughter.

* * *

When they arrived home, they immediately went upstairs and found Jack pacing in front of Annie's door – and Elliot sitting on the floor bouncing a ball against the wall.

"I called Elliot for back-up." Jack explained as Elliot smirked at them.

"We give exceptionally good bear hugs when called upon and can act as proof that not all men are trash." Elliot reasoned with a shrug.

"So it is about Austin?" Matt asked, desperately wanting to know what was going on.

"Just a guess" Elliot replied.

"Ok…" Sylvie said as she nervously shook her hands in front of her. She felt like she and Matt were about to walk into the lion's den, but their daughter needed them right now. "Get some pizza on standby." She told the boys who mock saluted her as she and Matt approached Annie's bedroom door and Sylvie gently knocked on it. "Annie? Honey?" they called but got no reply. "Ok, we're coming in…" she said as she slowly opened the door.

They stopped in the door frame and froze when they saw Annie lying in bed, holding onto her pillow tightly. Their hearts broke from seeing their daughter so upset.

Matt cleared his throat, seeing that Sylvie was already at a loss for words, "Annie?" he asked again.

"I don't want to talk about it" Annie mumbled from her bed as her voice cracked.

Matt and Sylvie moved further into the room and closed the door behind them.

"Come on honey, sit up" Sylvie encouraged as Annie reluctantly pulled herself up and Matt and Sylvie sat on either side of the bed. "Annie, what happened?" Sylvie asked quietly as she brushed her daughter's blonde hair off her face.

"Austin and I broke up" she said quietly as she looked at her hands to hide her teary eyes. "It uh – it was a mutual thing. He's leaving for California in the fall and we just decided it would be best to part ways now…" she explained as her parents remained silent, trying to find the right words to say. Instead, Sylvie wrapped her arm around her, holding her close, while Matt held onto her hand tightly. They felt like complete novices. The boys hadn't experienced heartbreak like this. Sure, a few girls had come and gone from their lives, but it was never to this scale. And while Matt and Sylvie had experienced heartbreak themselves over the years, trying to coach their daughter through it wasn't something they were prepared for.

"I just—" Annie began, trying to find the right words, as she finally looked up and let her tears freely flow. "I gave so much my myself to him. I loved him deeply and that's something I don't want to regret but I feel like I _have_ to. That somehow regret will make it easier to move on."

"Oh Annie…" Sylvie began as Annie snuggled into her mother's shoulder. "I think it's much better to be able to say you loved someone too much than not enough." She said as Matt gulped. That felt all too familiar to him. He didn't regret his relationship with Gabby. He was proud of himself for giving his all rather than simply letting her walk away from him without her knowing the love she was leaving behind. "And if you love the wrong person that much, imagine how much you'll love the right person." Sylvie added. Matt's heart fluttered at that comment. Gabby wasn't the love of his life. She was a love. But Sylvie Brett – he held his love for her above every love he'd had. She crept into his heart without him even realising and he loved her with everything in him. They'd been together for 25 years and it was without a doubt the best 25 years of his life.

Matt watched as Sylvie turned in her seating slightly so she could really look at her daughter. This forced Annie to now lean against her dad as Matt immediately wrapped an arm right around one shoulder to the other, holding her tightly against him.

"Annie, love has taught me a lot of things over the years and one of the biggest lessons I took from it is that you're going to fall in love over and over again until you find the one – and when you do find him, you'll be grateful for all the heartache because it shaped you into a person who will be ready to love him with everything you have. I know it hurts now and it probably will for a while. But don't ever forget that you are just one step closer to a happiness you'll never be able to come down from." Sylvie told her with the sweetest smile that Matt couldn't help but mimic.

After Sylvie's words, Matt felt like he had finally found his words of wisdom on love; "The first time you fall in love – it changes you." He began quietly, as Annie snuggled deeper into his chest, her head now leading on the inside of his bicep as he kept a tight hold around her. He could remember his first love all too clearly. Hallie meant so much to him and she always would. "Those feelings may never go away, but that doesn't mean you're incapable of feeling the same way about someone else. It doesn't mean you can't feel more for someone else. First loves are special… but last loves are priceless, and I can't wait for you to experience that." He told her as he smiled against her head.

"Until you find the Matt Casey to your Sylvie Brett" they heard Elliot say from the door as he and Jack appeared, and Annie couldn't help but smile at their comment.

"I'd count myself pretty lucky if I was ever able to have what you have" she said as she looked at her parents.

Sylvie placed her hand on Annie's cheek and delicately rubbed it with her thumb, "You'll find your forever Annie Casey." She said with a little wink. "Your heart is far too big for you to not."

Annie smiled and closed her eyes as Matt kissed the side of her head, letting her rest and breathe for just a moment.

"Ok, enough of this soppiness, it's brother time!" Jack announced as he and Elliot ran over to the bed and jumped on Annie – just seconds after Matt and Sylvie made the sensible decision to slip off the bed.

"Oh my god!" Annie groaned and laughed at the same time. "You two weigh a tonne! This was funny when I was like 5 but not so fun now!"

"Oh you'll never be able to escape these hugs Annie, even when we're 80 years old can being absolute terrors in our old folk's home." Elliot told her as they continued to wrestle with each other.

"God help me…" Annie grumbled as she continued to squabble with her brothers.

Sylvie and Matt stood by the door watching with smiles on their faces. Their kids could be ridiculous when they wanted to be, but they would always have each other's backs.

"Those were some pretty sweet words about heartache" Matt said to her quietly.

Sylvie nodded her head, "You've got to live something to really learn from it." She'd had her fair share of broken relationships and hearts.

"You got that right" Matt replied as he wrapped an arm around her waist and delicately kissed her temple. "I love you" he whispered as Sylvie smiled softly.

"I love you too."

Sylvie and Matt took one last glance at their kids and saw that Annie had managed to break free from Jack and Elliot's hold. She rushed over to her parents and pulled them in for a hug.

"I love you both so much. _Thank you_." She said to them as they hugged her back tighter than ever.

They knew this wouldn't be easy for Annie for the next while, but they also knew she had a lot of love around her to fill the void and she would get through this a better person for it.


	21. What We Deserve

**This is a longer one and things are a little tense as Matt deals with someone from his past… enjoy!**

* * *

**What We Deserve**

* * *

"Matt? Matt. _Matthew Casey_!" Sylvie shouted over the sound of her husband building something in the garage with his earphones in. She was _beyond_ frustrated with this day. Jack and Elliot wouldn't stop fighting with one another and Matt was nowhere to be found to help her deal with it. He'd been a little distant over the past few days and Sylvie couldn't put her finger on why. Over the years she'd learnt to read him like a map, but he was giving nothing away over whatever what bothering him. She didn't want to pry and hoped he would come to her when she was ready to talk.

Then there was the fact that she was puking her guts out every 15 minutes. Her joy over the fact that she was pregnant soon subsided when memories of being pregnant with the twins came flooding back. Then the memories became her reality again. Morning sickness was no joke.

Matt finally took his earphones out and looked at Sylvie.

"Yeah?" he asked, a little more abruptly than Sylvie was willing to tolerate, but she clenched her jaw and let it slide.

"Could you please come inside and help me?" she asked.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he set his tools down and a little reluctantly followed her in. He really just wanted to be alone right now.

"What's _wrong?"_ she asked as she turned and folded her arms and looked at him with a glare. "How many times have I told you today that the boys won't stop beating the crap out of each other and shouting at each other making it really very difficult for me to do anything at all?" she challenged. It had been at least three times, but clearly his mind was elsewhere.

Matt nodded regretfully. He knew he wasn't being fair, but he just needed time to process something. He was going to tell Sylvie, he really was – but he needed to know the outcome of what was going on before he told her.

"I got it." He said as he moved past her and into the house to find the boys doing exactly what Sylvie told him they were doing – smacking each other and shouting. _"HEY!"_ he shouted over the top of them as the boys' heads shot round and they looked at him with wide eyes. The other shoe had finally dropped. "That is _enough_." He said firmly. "Jack, go get your shoes on."

Jack's eyes widened even further, "Are you taking me to jail?" he asked quietly.

"… what?" Matt questioned in complete confusion. "Why would you think I was taking you to jail?"

"Elliot said that's where the bad people go." Jack said as he gave Elliot one final shove before standing up and walking towards the living room door.

Matt let out a scoff, "You have to do something a little more serious than shove your brother to end up in jail bud." He said as Jack let out a breath and went to put his shoes on.

"Where are you going?" Elliot asked as he jumped up onto the sofa and Sylvie came into the room with her arms crossed and a face like thunder.

"We're just going for a walk, you both need to cool down. What's with all the fighting?" Matt asked as he flattened Elliot's crazy fighting hair.

"It's just brother stuff dad, don't worry about it." Elliot passed off.

Matt quirked an eyebrow, "Brothers talk things out, they don't punch it out Elliot, you know that."

"Jack doesn't listen to me dad, it's the only way to get through to him!" Elliot whined.

"And Elliot talks too much dad, it's the only way to get him to _stop_!" Jack reasoned back as he came back into the room. Matt tried to hold back his smirk. His boys were so similar yet so eerily different. Their two approaches to life were evident here. Jack was all action and Elliot was a thinker.

"Whatever your reasonings, it stops _now_ – is that understood?" Matt said sternly as they both solemnly nodded their heads.

"We don't need to go out now dad, I get the picture." Jack told him.

"No, we're still going out, just so the message is clear." Matt told him as he nodded towards the door. "We'll be back soon" Matt said as he turned to Sylvie.

Sylvie nodded, "Take your time." She said bluntly.

Matt let out a sigh. He had a feeling that the boys fighting wasn't the only fight he would be dealing with today.

"Let's go bud" he said to Jack who went racing out the door ahead of his dad.

Soon enough, Matt and Jack had made it to a nearby park. Matt hadn't said much on the walk, instead he let Jack talk away about what he'd been doing at school and his favourite toys and of course – firefighting. His boys were obsessed which seemed fitting.

"Dad? Dad? _Dad!"_ Jack called, snapping Matt out of a trance he was in.

"Sorry bud, what were you saying?"

"I was saying – that lady over there is waving at you." He said as he pointed down the path. Matt looked up and saw who he had come here to meet – Gabby Dawson.

* * *

Matt steadily walked towards her as Jack tagged along, wondering who this lady was that had got his dad so clammed up.

"Hey" Gabby greeted as she awkwardly rubbed her hands in front of him. It had been a long time. At least 7 years. Now she was here. She'd hadn't changed much over the 7 years. Her hair was a little longer, but apart from that – same old Gabby Dawson.

"Hi" Matt greeted quietly. He was reminded of Jack's presence as he felt his son wrap an arm around Matt's leg and look up at Gabby with real uncertainty in his eyes. "Uh… Jack, this is Gabby, she's an old friend." He explained as he rested his hand on Jack's back and rubbed it lightly. The normally sociable little boy was clearly very unsure right now about the stranger in front of him.

"Hi Jack" Gabby greeted with a smile and a little wave.

"Hi…" he replied quietly, remaining firmly attached to Matt's side.

"Uh, why don't you go play in the park buddy, I'll be over in a minute." Matt encouraged as Jack shook his head.

"It'll be no fun without Elliot." He pouted.

Matt laughed, "Well you should have thought about that before you decided to use each other as punching bags." He teased as Gabby stood in front of them, smiling at the whole interaction. "Go on, go play" he said as Jack nodded his head and ran into the park.

Matt watched Jack, making sure he got through the gate before turning back to Gabby who was smiling at him.

"I almost forgot how good with kids you are." Gabby responded as she shoved her hands in her pockets, reminiscing fondly about their time with Louie. "I uh – I didn't know you had a son."

Matt nodded his head, "Two actually."

"I'm guessing that's who Elliot is?" she asked, remembering the name Jack had mentioned.

"Yeah. Elliot." He confirmed as Gabby awkwardly rocked on her heels.

"Jack has her eyes." She said as Matt looked at her, waiting for her to elaborate. He knew she was talking about Sylvie, Jack had Sylvie's eyes and the rest was _all_ him, but he was waiting for her to say it. He was waiting for her to actually _acknowledge_ his wife. "I'm happy that you're happy with her Matt, it just kind of sucks to come here and find out about your life like this. Not even a phone call to say you had a family with my former best friend."

"_Sylvie._ Her name is Sylvie. Not 'her,' not 'former best friend." Matt made clear. He wasn't going to let Gabby talk about his wife like she was _nobody_. She was someone incredibly special to Gabby for a long time.

"Sylvie." Gabby repeated, seeing that it was getting him worked up. "I'm sorry, I'm not here to cause an argument."

"Then why are you here Gabby?" Matt challenged. "Why did you call saying you wanted to meet?"

Gabby gave him a lopsided smirk, "Why did you _come?"_

"Believe it or not, I still care about how you're doing Gabby." He told her kindly. It wouldn't be in his nature not to care.

"I know." She replied. She was digging for a response that wasn't going to be there. She could see clear as day that he cared but he didn't _love._ Not in the way that he used to. "All I'm saying is that a phone call wouldn't have gone a miss before you got down on one knee to someone else or became a _father_. Don't you think I deserve that?"

Matt didn't know what to say. His blood was starting to _boil._ After seven years Gabby had come back and started demanding explanations and apologies for moving on. He was sure there were plenty of things about her life that he didn't know about and he wasn't here demanding_ anything_ from her. He knew he didn't deserve anything, just like she didn't either. He wasn't that surprised though by her actions, it was Gabby Dawson through and through – bold with a touch of selfishness on the side.

"You left, Gabby. We aren't in each other's lives so no I don't think you deserve any explanations from me." He replied, rather politely. If it was the other way around, he imagined she might have blown up in his face.

"I just – I just never thought that we'd ever be able to replicate what we had." Gabby told him honestly. "I thought we were it for each other."

A smile rose to Matt's face. He wasn't able to replicate what he had with Gabby – he found something _better_. Sylvie Brett was it for him and no matter how mad she was at him right now he could _never_ be so mad at her. The goodness in her made that impossible.

"Gabby I am_ so_ in love with my wife." He said with a little laugh of joy. "It's crazy how much I love her, and I don't know what you came here expecting me to say. Did you expect me to apologise for the life that I have and adore? Because I'm not going to do that. You made your choice to walk away and I found a love that was right for me and waiting for me to be ready to embrace it. To embrace _her_." He told her honestly as she gulped and looked at her feet. "I will always be so grateful for what we had. You made me a lot stronger and got me through some really difficult moments in my life… but that part of life is over and I'm not going to say sorry for realising that." he finished as Gabby clenched her jaw, not really knowing what to say. A part of her hadn't expected him to be this happy with life. Not after how they left things. She was clearly holding on to some things he had learnt to let go of a long time ago.

"Jack!" Matt called, as he waved his son back over.

"Dad" Jack said as he approached them. Gabby flinched a little at hearing Jack call Matt dad. Once upon a time she had been dreaming that it would be her kids calling Matt dad. "I'm tired" he said groggily as he reached his arms up and Matt scooped him up before looking at his watch.

"Yeah, we did cut this walk a little close to bedtime, huh?" Matt said as Jack wrapped his body around Matt like a koala and rested his head on the crook of Matt's neck. Matt looked up at Gabby who wasn't looking happy, but also had a softness in her eyes over Matt's interactions with Jack. It was clear to her how much they adored each other. How could she be mad about that?

"I uh – I'm sorry." She said quietly as she wiped away a stray tear that had fallen down her cheek. "I really am glad you're happy Matt and I didn't mean to come here and accuse you of anything. How could I find a problem with someone finding what they deserve?"

Matt nodded his head as a way of accepting her apology. He didn't want to leave this meeting mad, but he also didn't want to leave any words unsaid or any doors open.

"I hope you're happy too Gabby. That is all I have ever wanted for you and I am so proud of the work that you've been doing. Truly." Matt told her sincerely.

"Thanks Matt." She said with a tight-lipped smile. "I am happy… I'm also glad I got to meet your mini-me. The world could do with more Caseys." She said with a little laugh.

Matt chuckled, _"This_ Casey certainly is a firecracker… and one of the best things that's ever happened to me." He said as he rested his cheek against Jack's head, thinking fondly of him, Elliot and the next edition to the brood that had yet to appear.

Gabby smiled, "I can see why. I'll uh – let you get him back home. Goodbye Matt." Gabby said as she gave him a small wave before turning and walking away from him.

Matt stood there for a brief moment and watched her. He thought he'd gotten closure years ago, but maybe that was the final moment he needed. To see that she was happy and for her to see how happy he was – because he'd truly never been happier in life and he was determined to go home and tell his wife exactly that.

* * *

A short while later, Matt returned home and quietly put Jack to bed before heading back downstairs to find Sylvie. He soon found her in one of her favourite positions – the sofa in the living room, with a bowl of popcorn resting on top of her little baby bump and a book in her hand. Matt leaned against the doorframe and just watched her. She was so radiant – _always_.

"Where have you been? It's way past Jack's bedtime." Sylvie said quietly, tearing Matt out of his trance.

"We got side-tracked, I'm sorry." He said quietly as walked into the room. He put his hands in his pockets and stood beside her, while Sylvie didn't tear her attention away from her book. "Are you still mad at me?" he boldly asked, figuring they should just get straight to the problem.

"Depends. Are you going to tell me what the hell has gotten into you the past few days?" she asked as she set her book and her popcorn down and looked up at him.

Matt looked at his feet, not sure how he could begin explaining this to Sylvie without her getting the wrong idea.

"Gabby called me a few days ago." He said as he could see Sylvie's mouth drop slightly.

"Is she – is she ok?" Sylvie asked, a little concerned.

Matt looked up at her in a moment of awe. Even though she was mad at him, she was still selfless enough to ask him if Gabby was ok.

"She's fine, she was just in Chicago and wanted to talk." He told her.

"… _oh."_ Sylvie merely replied. "I'm guessing that's where you went with Jack then?" she asked as she began to put two and two together.

He nodded his head. "I should have told you and I'm sorry that I didn't, I just got in my head a little bit about it. I would never do anything—" he said, but stopped himself with a gulp. The way Sylvie was looking at him right now – she just looked so _sad_.

"I'm not mad at the thought of what could happen while she's here" Sylvie replied as she stood from the sofa. She could see all over Matt's face that he was worried she'd think something was going to happen between them. "I know how much you love me, I know that she's not going to change that." she made clear as Matt let out a breath and his heart skipped a beat. Knowing how secure she felt made _him_ feel secure. "I'm mad because you felt like you had to keep it from me. That's not like us Matt, we have always talked things through, we don't hold back." Their entire relationship had been built on the fact that they were the best of friends. Nothing could change that.

"It's not that I didn't want to tell you, I just – I was mad too Sylvie. I was mad that she called like it was nothing and expected to just walk into my life like she hadn't been gone for the past 7 years." He told her honestly. "And then when I saw her… I was mad that she showed up saying it was unfair that I didn't tell her about my family."

"Why did that make you mad?" she asked, getting upset herself because _he_ was getting upset about this whole thing. She always managed to feel everything that he was feeling.

"Because I don't owe her _a damn thing." _He replied without missing a beat. "Sylvie I love you so damn much. I love our life." he said with tears in his eyes. "And I shouldn't have to explain that away to _anybody_ and I shouldn't have to apologise for it."

Sylvie walked forward and rested her hands on Matt's neck and rested her forehead against his.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you and I'm sorry that I got in my head." he apologised.

"I would be worried if you didn't get into your head a little bit" she said with a laugh. "Just – please talk to me next time. We're a team and I will always fight your battles and take on your frustrations so we can deal with them _together_."

"I love you" he said as he kissed down her cheek and her jaw before tightly hugging her.

"I love you too. _So much_." She replied softly, as they took a moment to just be in each other's arms and be thankful for the life they had built together.

* * *

**So, I didn't want to make Gabby into a villain in this chapter because I do like her character – just not with Matt. I just think they're too different and Gabby was too independent for that relationship. But I also didn't want to make it seem like Matt still held some sort of flame for her and that she was this huge problem – so I hope I got that across ok! **

**Let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	22. Cravings

**Thank you all for your reviews on last chapter! It's great hearing what you all think, particularly about the Gabby situation. Keep them coming!**

**Matt and Sylvie are a little frustrated in this chapter… enjoy!**

* * *

**Cravings**

* * *

It was the morning of shift and Sylvie woke up a let out a breath before moving some hair out of her face. As she took a minute to get her bearings, she smiled softly. She was a week in to her second trimester and even though she was dealing with some serious morning sickness regularly – she was enjoying being pregnant and she figured she should enjoy it while it lasted. At her 12-week scan she had discovered she was carrying twins, so she knew their lives were about to get pretty crazy. She had also decided to turn to light duty at work when she started her second trimester and today was the first day of it. She wasn't thrilling about being stuck in the bullpen all day and maybe being allowed out on some minor calls, but the health of her babies was the most important thing to her right now.

Sylvie rolled over and reached her arm out, expecting to find the chest of her husband, but instead, it was empty. She looked at the clock and saw that he appeared to be up a little earlier than usual. She got out of bed, slipped on a discarded jumper from the night before and clean pair of underwear before making her way downstairs to find him. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she smiled even wider than she had when she woke up – she could smell pancakes. Her food cravings had started to kick in a few weeks ago and Matt had been doing whatever he could to appease them – including driving to the store at 2am to get some _pickles_.

She walked into the kitchen and saw Matt sitting at the island, dressed for work and eating some cereal. Sylvie smirked while watching him. It was insane how just seeing him sitting there gave her butterflies a made her feel insanely happy. She studied him further. He looked hot today. Not that he didn't always look hot, but there was something about him in his white captain shirt that was seriously turning Sylvie on this morning.

"You're up early" she said, gaining his attention as he jumped slightly.

"Thought I'd finally make you those chocolate chip pancakes you've been craving every morning. You do insist that nothing else will satisfy you." he told her with a smile as she sauntered towards him and wrapped her arms around him from behind, her hand disappearing under the two popped buttons at the top of his shirt.

"Well thank you, I can't wait to eat them… but I'm craving something else this morning." She whispered into his ear.

Matt turned his head to look at her and quirked an eyebrow, "And what would that be?" he asked with a gulp.

"_You_" she replied in a seductive whisper.

Matt reacted immediately and spun on the island chair, pulling her against him and kissing her hard. He held her tightly against him as they kissed long, hard and fast, her hands roaming freely through his hair. Matt expertly slipped off the stool and turned them around, lifting Sylvie onto the island, all without breaking their kiss.

While Matt moved his kisses down Sylvie's jaw and neck, Sylvie's hands moved from Matt's hair and travelled down his chest, pulling his white polo out from his trousers, her hands soon roaming up his muscular back. Matt in turn reached under the jumper she was wearing and pulled her underwear swiftly down her legs, causing her to giggle and move to his belt.

Just as she was about to undo it, something started to buzz incessantly beside them. Matt lifted his head, their lips brushing against each other's.

"That's my phone…" He groaned.

"Ignore it" she said as they smirked against each other's lips. He was completely under her spell and would do just about anything she asked him to do right now.

"I could get used to these pregnancy hormones" he told her before kissing her fiercely.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

Matt groaned and tilted his head back in frustration before grabbing his phone from beside Sylvie's thigh.

"Boden wants to see Severide and I now… must be important." He said as he put his phone in his pocket. "I gotta go" he said regretfully as he tucked his shirt back into his pants, leaving Sylvie frustrated and pouting. "I love you" he said as he cupped her face and kissed her. "Very much" he added before kissing her once move.

He bent down to the floor and lifted her underwear, holding them up for her to take back. Sylvie smirked and jumped off the counter. She rested a hand on his chest and looked up at him, his eyes piercing through her, full of desire.

"You can hold onto those" she teased as she kissed his cheek and left the room to get dressed for the day, making sure to snake her hips to drive her husband that little bit crazier.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Later that morning, Sylvie sat in the lounge, twisting a pen in her hands. The firehouse had been called out to a scene, including Boden, and she was here _alone_. It was driving her _crazy_. She wasn't sure how she could manage to do another 4 odd months of this. She swiftly reminded herself that she was doing this for her babies and it made her feel better about it, but it was still hard. She loved her job and to not be able to do it was difficult, no matter the cause.

Soon enough, she heard the engines return and rushed out into the hallway. She watched from the window as everyone jumped out of truck and ambo, looking a little tired and ragged. Sylvie looked around for Matt and soon spotted him. His hair was all over the place and he had soot on his face. It had clearly been a tough one. Sylvie quirked an eyebrow as she felt something twinge in her lower stomach. There was something about Matt looking so dishevelled and in his turn out gear that she found stupidly attractive. It was a real departure from the normally very well put together Matt Casey.

It reminded her of the previous summer when they had rented a cabin by Lake Michigan while they were on furlough and Matt had decided to grow out his beard a little. Sylvie couldn't keep her hands off him that summer – not that she ever really could. They were like two hormonal teenagers a lot of the time. She'd tried to convince him to keep it, but he insisted that it would lose its power over her if he had it all the time – she couldn't help but agree. A rugged Matt Casey was for special occasions only.

"Brett" she heard a voice beside her say as she jumped out of her skin and turned her head to see Foster eyeing her curiously. "… you ok?" she asked with a smirk. "You look… jittery."

"Oh, yeah, I'm – I'm all good. Pregnancy just makes me really horn—hor—_hormonal_." She said, stumbling over her words and blushing at her close 'horny' confession. "Hormones make you jittery!" she said with an awkward laugh.

Foster quirked an eyebrow and folded her arms; "Oh yeah? That's interesting… Casey's been a little jittery today too." She observed. Sylvie looked back out the window and saw Matt standing there, looking a little frustrated. "And we know it's not pregnancy hormones causing it…"

Sylvie scoffed, "You'd be surprised…" she muttered. He may not have had the hormones, but Sylvie's were _certainly_ affecting him too.

"I don't think I would be..." She said as she walked towards her friend. She leaned in slightly so no one else could hear what she was about to say. "_Just jump him already_." She whispered to her friend before walking on, leaving Sylvie with a wide mouth and wide eyes. Were they really being that obvious? Foster really did have a knack for detecting unresolved sexual tension.

Sylvie waited for a few minutes before everyone else had dispersed and Matt was left alone. She rushed towards him just as he was removing his red suspenders from his shoulders.

"He—" he began to greet, but Sylvie ignored him, grabbed his arm and pulled him in the direction of one of the storerooms, pushing him in and locking the door behind them. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Finishing what we started this morning" she said as she removed her top leaving Casey gulping and staring her up and down. Her little bump was the cutest thing in the world. She was sometimes a little insecure about her pregnancy body, but Matt assured her she'd never looked sexier.

"… _here_?" he asked. Yeah, he was beyond frustrated, but the storeroom seemed a little risky.

"You really want to debate the location, or do you want to get busy?" she boldly asked as she removed her trousers and kicked them away with her feet. This was probably the most exciting thing that was going to happen to her today – and she was determined to make the most of it.

Matt let out a laugh and smirked. "What's life without a little risk?" he questioned as Sylvie beamed before Matt walked towards her, immediately capturing her lips in his.

His hands roamed over her body and Sylvie was quick to deepen his kiss. She soon discarded his shirt before Matt scooped her up and pushed her against the wall – delicately of course. He dipped his head down and began kissing along her neck, eliciting some gasps from his wife. He knew exactly where to kiss to drive her _wild_.

Maybe a little frustration wasn't so bad every now and again…


	23. Knowing Your Worth

**Again - thank you for all your lovely reviews! So excited for CF tonight... hopefully we'll get some sweet Brettsey moments!**

**Matt struggles with Annie's dating life in this chapter... Enjoy!**

* * *

**Knowing Your Worth**

* * *

It was a Saturday night and Matt picked up a book from the bookcase in the hallway and began walking into the living room. He was anticipating it being a quiet one since Sylvie was heading out with Emily and Stella for dinner, so he thought now was the perfect opportunity to start reading all those books he had been telling himself he'd read for a solid 5 years. Somehow, he could never find the time for them.

As he was about to turn into the living room, he saw his daughter race down the stairs towards the door.

"Hi dad, bye dad!" she called as she reached for the door handle.

_"Hold it"_ Matt said as Annie froze where she was before slowly turning around to look at her dad with a sweet smile on her face (a sweet smile that always got her out of trouble). "Where you going, Ann?"

"I have a date" she replied honestly as Matt furrowed his eyebrows and nodded his head.

"Didn't you just break up with Austin?"

Annie rolled her eyes, "Dad we broke up _3 months ago_, my weeping period is over, it's time I got back out there and had some fun while I'm still young!" she reasoned.

Matt nodded his head to show he understood, but there was something in him that just felt a little uneasy about it. He had never been the sort of dad to be wildly overprotective of his kids and he certainly wasn't the sort of dad to stop them from dating. Of course, he wanted them to be safe and he worried about them like any parent would, but he also trusted them explicitly. He believed that one of the greatest things he could do as a parent was show his kids he trusted them – which they in turn had fairly earned.

Despite how much he trusted Annie, he didn't know why he felt so uneasy. He looked at his daughter who still had that cute little smile on her face. She looked just like Sylvie, but with a few of Matt's hard lines, and he was often putty in his daughter's hands. He just couldn't bare anything bad happening to her, even the smallest thing – especially after her heartbreak over Austin.

"Do you uh – do you need any money?" Matt asked after realising he'd been silently studying her for a little too long.

Annie quirked an eyebrow, "I wouldn't say no if it was offered…" she said as Matt smirked and handed her some cash. "Thank you daddy" she said as she walked forward, took the money and kissed his cheek.

Before Matt could give her a subtle but clear 'be careful' speech, there was a honk from out front and Annie turned to the door.

"That's for me, see you later dad!" she said as she turned, but Matt halted her again.

"Wow, hold on… did he just _honk_ for you?" he asked. He wasn't delivering a package, he could at least come and knock at the door.

Annie sighed, "We're already late, it's just to save time—"

"It he can't come and knock on the door then chivalry must _really_ be dead…" Matt grumbled as he set his book down on the table in the hallway. So much for reading now, he was just going to be spending the night worried that Annie was on a date with a total _tool. _

"Why are you being so _weird_?" Annie asked as she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure Austin honked his horn to get me to come out on _more_ than one occasion and you didn't say anything then." She said with a little laugh.

"And look how that turned out" he said as he raised his hand. She was really just proving his point for him. "All I'm saying is that it wouldn't hurt to have some basic standards. What's this kid's name anyway?"

"Archie."

"Huh." Matt said with a grimace. "I'm pretty sure there's at least three dogs on our street called Archie…"

_"Dad!"_

"Ok, I'll stop" he said as he held up his hands in surrender. Annie looked like she was one step away from punching him. "Enjoy your date with _Archie_ and just _be careful_" he said. He would like to say an awful lot more, but he didn't think it would go down too well.

Annie nodded her head, "I will… and thank you for the money. I won't be late" she promised before rushing out the door for her date.

"You do realise this is only the beginning, right?" he heard a voice behind him say as he turned around to see Jack and Elliot standing behind him.

"Do you two really have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than hang around here?" he asked his boys.

"Mom said she'd do our washing for us this weekend so we're just dropping it off before heading out." Elliot explained.

"Don't worry grandpa, we'll be out of your hair soon." Jack teased.

"Watch it… and what do you mean it's only the beginning?" Matt asked curiously as the boys smirked from the entrance to the kitchen.

"She's finally over that post-Austin funk she was in" Jack began, "which means she has a new lease of life"

"And a renewed belief in the joys of dating and not being in a committed relationship." Elliot added. "Archie is just the first of a whole _herd_ of boys who are going to be showing up at the door."

Matt gulped. A whole _herd?_ He understood why a whole herd of boys would want to date Annie. She was incredibly intelligent and witty and beautiful, but he was convinced the whole experience would send him into an early grave. He didn't like the idea of someone as great as Annie not dating someone who could match her. He also didn't like the idea of this herd of boys breaking her heart.

Jack smirked, "I think I just saw the old man's life flash before his eyes."

"She'll be fine dad, it's all part of the teenage experience. Jack and I were the exact same." Elliot reasoned. They'd dated their fair share of girls too in high school and now college.

"Yeah… all part of the experience…" he grumbled before walking into the kitchen. "I need a drink."

* * *

5 weekends had passed since Annie's date with Archie. 5 weekends had passed – which meant 5 _dates_ had also passed. After Archie there was Chad whose hands hovered a little too closely to Annie's butt for Matt's liking. Then there was Vic who called Matt 'Papa Casey' and greeted him with a 'sup dude'. Then there was Michael who tried to out-do Matt on his firefighter knowledge, which really went down like a lead balloon. Out of all of them Jason was his favourite. Annie was running a little late getting ready, so Matt had him change the oil in his car, which he did only a_ little_ begrudgingly. If Jason was his favourite, then Isaac was his _least_ favourite. While waiting for Annie to come downstairs, he was texting _other girls._ Matt knew it was a little hypocritical, but if this kid was going to date his daughter then she should be the only girl on his mind – no matter who else might be on Annie's.

It was early afternoon on the 6th Saturday and Matt woke up anxious. He wasn't sure he wanted to face who would walk through his front door that evening. The standard of men hadn't exactly been high. As he made some lunch that afternoon, the back door opened and Annie and her childhood friend Robbie appeared, looking like they had just been out on a run. Annie and Robbie Halstead had known each other since they were little kids, mainly because their parents were good friends and also because they attended the same school. They had been thick as thieves for years now and Robbie was often in the Casey house – it was like a second home with a second family. Matt and Sylvie had a very open doors policy to their friends and their kids' friends. They wanted their home to be a place anyone could come to and feel welcome and safe.

"Hey guys" Matt greeted as they stood on the other side of the counter.

"Hey dad" "Hi Matt" they simultaneously greeted.

"How was your run?" he asked as Annie moved to the fridge to get some water from the cooler.

"I whooped Robbie's ass – as usual." Annie boasted as she handed her friend a glass.

Robbie glared at her, "She _wishes_ she whooped my ass…" he grumbled as Annie smirked.

"He doesn't need an ego boost from me, he's starting on the lacrosse team next Saturday." Annie said proudly as she nudged Robbie's arm.

Matt smiled, "That's awesome Robbie, congrats"

"Thanks, I'm pretty stoked" he said with a little smile that in turn made Annie smile.

"Are you guys going to do something to celebrate tonight?" Matt subtly inquired, hoping that this would be an excuse for Annie to cancel her date.

Annie shook her head as she took a sip of water, "Not tonight, I have a date"

"When do you ever _not_ have a date?" Robbie challenged as Annie shoved him lightly and Matt scoffed. Wasn't that the truth…

"I'm sorry but last time I checked you _also_ have a date tonight." Annie said with raised eyebrows.

Robbie frowned, "How do you know about that?"

"Girls talk Robbie, the fact that you thought you could keep it from me is cute, _really._" She teased as Robbie rolled his eyes. "Cathy's cool… also a little crazy, but cool."

"Oh no, you don't get to judge me when your date is with_ Logan Matthews._" Robbie protested.

Matt gulped. Did Robbie know something he didn't know about this boy? Annie assured him he was a nice kid. Captain of the lacrosse team, straight A student, a shoe in for class president. He seemed like a dream.

"Wha- what's wrong with Logan Matthews?" Matt asked, trying sound as calm as possible.

"The guy will sleep with anything that has a _pulse_." Robbie said with a scoff, almost forgetting who he was talking to. "He doesn't date, he hooks up."

"Oh my god, _Robbie_!" Annie exclaimed as she slapped him on the arm, causing him to choke slightly on his water. "Why would you tell him that?!"

"He asked!" he defended.

Matt watched, in a stunned silence as Annie and Robbie continued to bicker with one another. Sylvie was convinced that the pair were destined to be together. Ever since they were children they instantly clicked and as they grew older, Sylvie was convinced she saw a little sparkle in their eyes whenever they looked at each other. Matt was largely indifferent to the idea, but it took this moment right here for him to see it. The way they cared about each other and laughed together – and bickered together – seemed to genuine and loving. He wouldn't be surprised, or mad, if Annie came home one day and said she loved him.

"Look" Annie said, turning to her dad and snapping him out of his thoughts. "We're just going for a walk by the river and then to this little park down by Greenway. We won't even be out late." She said as she walked around the island to stand beside Matt. "Dad you know me, you know I would never do anything reckless and I take sex seriously—"

"It's ok." Matt interrupted. He didn't really want to be talking about sex with his teenage daughter, and besides, he did trust her – he just didn't necessarily trust the guys she was bringing home. "I trust you but uh – did you say the park by Greenway?" he asked as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. He was pretty sure Annie was _conceived_ in the carpark of that park. Normally sensible Matt Casey and Sylvie Brett had a night of teenage-esque recklessness on a rare date night 18 years ago. Matt felt like the past was somehow coming back to haunt him.

"Yeah. What's wrong with Greenway?" Annie asked.

Matt contemplated giving a warning, but once again felt like he should take a step back on this one. "… nothing. Just be careful and get back before it gets dark."

"Ok..." Annie said with a little laugh, not entirely buying Matt's reasons for concern.

"I better go and get ready for my date" Robbie said as he walked towards the door. "Annie… don't do anything I wouldn't do" he playfully instructed.

Annie scoffed, "That list is very short then."

"Ha, ha..." He huffed. "Bye Matt"

"Bye Robbie"

Matt watched as Annie watched Robbie leave. She had a_ look_ in her eye. He couldn't quite place it but he'd seen it before. She turned away from the door and leaned on the counter, a pondering look on her face. She looked up and saw Matt staring at her curiously.

"… I'm going for a shower." She announced, realising that she'd been caught out by her dad.

"Ok" he simply replied. Again, he could have said something, but he wasn't much of an interfering parent. Annie's feelings were her own to work out.

* * *

"I'm telling you babe, she had this _look_ in her eye…" Matt said, trying to explain to his wife about how Annie looked at Robbie as they made dinner this evening.

"Like how I look at you?" she asked with a little smile that Matt returned.

"Yeah. Exactly like that" he said as he affectionately kissed her shoulder.

"I would most definitely believe it, I've said for _years_ that those two are meant to be!" Sylvie reasoned. "I'm glad you didn't say anything though. It's definitely for them to work out by themselves."

"This whole dating thing Annie is doing is for her to work out by herself but believe me – it's getting hard to just say be careful and then send her on her way." he confessed. He knew Annie could handle herself, but he felt like it was only natural as a dad to worry about your kids. He just wanted her to feel safe and secure and loved by everybody in her life - even if that maybe wasn't realistic.

Sylvie wrapped her arms around his waist, "I know it's hard, but it's the best thing you can do for her. She's a smart kid, she would never do anything reckless and knowing that we trust her will go a long way."

"I know" Matt said as he hugged her into his side.

Suddenly, the front door slammed open and shut and Annie stormed down the hallway and into the kitchen – her face like _thunder._ She was normally a calm and level-headed girl, so something really must have gotten her worked up.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Sylvie asked quickly as she released herself from Matt's hold and walked over to her.

"Robbie is what's wrong!" Annie exclaimed as she began to pace in front of them. "God, he's such an_ idiot_!"

"Take a breath, tell us what happened." Sylvie said in her calm voice in an attempt to get Annie to stop pacing and speak calmly and not in the heat of anger.

She sighed and eventually stopped, but kept her arms folded tightly over her chest. "I went to his house to pick something up that I left there the other day and we got into a stupid fight because he told me that Logan wasn't good enough for me. Who does he think he is criticising who I date?! It's nothing new I guess, he never had one nice thing to say about Austin! _Asshole_." She grumbled finally as she slumped down on one of the islands and Sylvie comfortingly rubbed her back and looked to Matt for back up.

"Annie" Matt began as she looked up at her dad, "Robbie is your best friend. Anything he says is because he cares about you. I'm sure he wasn't critical of Logan or even Austin because he wanted to hurt you. He's looking out for you and he always will."

"Your dad is right Annie. You can't let his opinion of one boy take away from years of friendship." Sylvie reasoned. "Why is this one getting to you so much? I don't remember you ever being this worked up about what he had to say about Austin."

Annie looked between her parents. She rarely held anything back from them, so telling them this wasn't that big of a deal.

"Holly and Jess…" she began, referring to her two best friends. "They've been teasing me for months now that Robbie is in love with me and that we're meant to be together which is just ridiculous… right?"

Sylvie and Matt shared a look that Annie immediately read as 'nope, not that ridiculous.'

_"Guys, seriously?!_" she protested. "He's my best friend! I could never ruin what we have."

"Honey – someone once told me that all the rules you think there are about who you should and shouldn't date go out the window when you meet someone you really click with." Sylvie recited, remembering what Foster had told her all those years ago.

"I get that you find the possibility scary but if you take that leap… it might just be the best thing to ever happen to you." Matt added as he looked at his wife. They were living proof of taking a leap and it being entirely worth it.

"Maybe…" Annie grumbled. "If this has taught me anything, it's taught me that this whole dating while you're young thing – entirely over rated." She said as she stood from the counter.

"Does that mean no more boys rocking up at my door?" Matt asked hopefully.

Annie giggled, "No more boys. Thank you for being patient with me." She really wasn't oblivious to her father's worries concerning her dating life.

"You know your own mind Annie. I'm glad that means you also know what you're worth."

"Trust me. I really do." Annie confirmed as she stood from the stool. "I'm going to go wait by my phone under Robbie calls to apologise" she said with a smug smirk. "And… I think I could do a lot worse than having Robbie Halstead as the love of my life." She added at the end to which Sylvie gave a gleeful smirk to Matt.

They knew in that moment that Annie would always find her way in life. She was bold and confident and strong and growing into a women her parents were immensely proud of – and she could definitely do a lot worse than having Robbie Halstead by her side through it all.


	24. To My Last Breath

**How sweet were the Brett and Casey moments in 8x19?! So emotional. **

**Brett and Casey spend the day in bed together asking some deep questions… enjoy!**

* * *

**To My Last Breath**

* * *

Sylvie lay with her head at the opposite end of Matt's bed, a sheet delicately draped over her. She couldn't remember a time before where so felt as relaxed and radiant as she did right now. She guessed that was the power of love. She and Matt had been together for only a few weeks and already it was the best few weeks of her life. They were inseparable and Sylvie knew that this was it for them. They'd found the one their hearts had been looking for.

"_You're an angel."_ She heard a voice at the bedroom door say as she lifted her head lightly and saw Matt standing there in his boxers carrying a bowl of strawberries.

She smiled widely before flopping her head back down on the bed and giggling; "You're a dork"

Matt shrugged and walked to the end of the bed. "Maybe…" he began before setting the strawberries down beside her, resting his hands on either side of her head and hovering above her "But I'm a stupidly in love dork and honestly – there's no better feeling." He said as he kissed her upside down, causing her to giggle and smile against his lips.

"I had an amazing idea while you were away" she told him as she rolled over onto her stomach so she could look at him properly.

He quirked an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?" he asked as he continued to lean over her on the bed.

"I know we said we'd help Hermann set up for Joe and Chloe's homecoming party" she said as she lifted a strawberry. Hermann wanted to throw a little something for them at Molly's for when they came back from their honeymoon and had roped everyone in to help. "But how about we call in sick… and spend the whole day in bed together." She suggested before biting down on the strawberry with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

Matt gave her a lopsided smirk and a scoff of surprise. It was very unlike Sylvie Brett to bail on anybody. He most certainly wasn't, however, against the idea. He knew that she didn't have to say anything else to convince him

"Say no more…" he said as he kissed her and pulled her back up to the opposite end of the bed, eliciting a playful squeal from her.

* * *

_"If you could do any other job in the world, what would it be?" Sylvie_ asked, her head resting in Matt's lap as he sat up, his back against the bed board. They were finally getting around to eating those strawberries after some hot mid-morning activities. Now, they needed to get their strength up from what they had no doubt the afternoon would hold. So for now, they were eating and asking each other any question that came in to mind. They'd known each other for a long time, and they knew a lot about each other. They knew exactly they kind of person they were but it was the finer details, the big life questions that they wanted to find out.

"Any other job? Uh… a doctor." He told her as he ate half a strawberry and gave her the other half.

"I suppose it's probably in your DNA to be in a caring profession." She said with a smile.

Matt shrugged, "I guess I just don't want to do a job that is devoid of any humanity. It's why we're here, to make a difference in people's lives. To go that extra mile."

Sylvie nodded, "You certainly are a little extra that way…" she said with a wink, quoting herself from not that long ago. "I think I'd be a singer."

Matt chuckled, "A singer?" He didn't know why he questioned it. He'd heard her sing on more than one occasionally. Mainly in the shower or if she was just completing a job at work. She was always singing to herself and she had a really beautiful voice.

"Yeah!" she said confidently. "I love singing and if I can bring even a little bit of joy to someone's life through it then I'd consider myself very lucky."

"Well you certainly bring me a heck of a lot of a joy in the mornings when you belt out your song of choice in the shower" he said with a little laugh as he ran his hand over her hair and bent down to steal a quick kiss.

"You provide me with a heck of a lot of joy when you bring me strawberries in bed…" she said with a little moan as she ate another one.

Matt gulped. Who knew seeing her eat a strawberry could be such a turn on?

"Oo, I've got a good one" she said as she turned over onto her side, resting a hand on Matt's thigh. "What is your happiest childhood memory?"

Matt scoffed. He didn't have many of those. Everything in his childhood was often overshadowed by the disintegration of his parent's marriage. But… there was one thing. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"It's not one specific memory but uh… we had this washing line in the backyard. My dad put it up and it was made of this really strong wiring and bolted in to two trees that sat the length of the yard." He began as she looked at him with the softest smile. "One summer when I was around 7, my dad thought it would be fun to make it into a zipwire. So, he built it and Christie and I loved it so much that he built an entire assault course for us. It was the best thing and we just had so much fun that summer and the summers after it too." He said with a smile. It had been a while since he'd thought about it, but he couldn't help but feel joy when he did. "But I think the thing that I loved the most about it… it's the only memory I have in my head of my parents smiling together." He told her quietly. "They rarely did that, but seeing their kids having so much fun… I guess my happiest memories as a child are the ones in which my parents appeared to be happy. Even if it was just an illusion. My dad was a difficult and abusive husband… but he was still my dad. If I can hold on to a single good memory of him, no matter how simple – I will."

Sylvie nodded her head quietly. He didn't need her to tell him she was proud. It was written all over her face. Sylvie remembered that when she arrived at 51, it was basically an unspoken rule that you didn't ask Casey about his family. Apparently, he'd loosened up a little over the past few years about it, but still. He rarely spoke about them and she didn't blame his silence on the matter. But she was proud right now. She was proud of how he thought about it. She was proud he could tell her right now.

"Ok, my turn" he said as he took her hand in his and absentmindedly played with it. "We'll stick with the theme of childhood… why did your parents decide to adopt?"

"Oo, good question." She said as she shifted a little in her spot on the bed. "It's probably going to sound a little crazy but… I think they saw me and just knew that I was supposed to be a Brett." She said with a little shrug. "My brother was 4 and they'd been trying for a few years for another baby and it just wasn't happening for them. They were about ready to give up, but… my mom was a midwife in a hospital just outside of Fowlerton, in the town that Julie was from and my mom was the midwife who delivered me." She said with a smile that Matt couldn't help but return. "She says she can't really explain it, but she just held me and had the strangest feeling in the pit of her stomach. When she found out Julie had planned to give me up for adoption, it just seemed like fate. She brought my dad and Tom to the hospital to see me and that was that. They fell in love"

Matt smiled and kissed her hand, "Well it is hard not to fall in love with you."

"Right back at you Captain." She teased with a wink. "How many girls do you think have fallen in love with you over the years?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

Matt let out a laugh, "Oh at least 2 dozen…"

Sylvie rolled her eyes and lightly shoved him; "Ok and out of those 2 dozen…" she joked. "How many have _you _fallen in love with?"

Matt looked at her for a moment. Admittedly, he'd been with his fair share of girls, but he could also proudly admit that he'd only been in love three times.

"Three." He said with certainty as Sylvie waited for him to elaborate. "The first time, I was a young firefighter with a bit of a hero complex, and she was the pretty doctor who seemed way out of my league." he joked as Sylvie smiled. She knew about Hallie, of course she did, but she'd never heard _him_ talk about her. "I loved her very much. We were together for 8 years but in the end… we just wanted different things and she wasn't the one for me. I think it's the cruellest thing in the world that she had to die for me to see that." He said with a gulp and tears in his eyes. "She was really wonderful and sometimes I'll walk past someone who has the same perfume as her or I'll pass our favourite restaurant it just _breaks_ me. But it also reminds me of all the things I learnt from that relationship."

"What did you learn?" she asked quietly.

"Never settle for what you know you deserve." He said instantly. It was clearly a lesson he'd take with him to the grave. "And… keep the fights clean – and the sex dirty." He said with a lopsided smirk.

"Matt Casey my _god_…" Sylvie said in fake shock as he chuckled.

"You're going to be thankful of that lesson one day" he said as he pulled her arm, forcing her to move closer to him.

"Yeah, you're probably right…" she said with a smile as he kissed her. Sylvie shifted so she was now sitting in between his legs, her head against his chest and his arms wrapped around her shoulder. "Did you learn anything from number two?" she asked with a gulp. She knew number two was Gabby and she knew he'd learnt a heck of a lot from it – she was just curious as to how he would put it into words.

"Always give your all in a relationship until your all isn't enough." He said as he rested his cheek against her head and held her that little bit tighter. "I grew a lot from that relationship, and I will always value it. She reminded me what's so great about love… but also what's incredibly difficult about it. I came out of that relationship knowing exactly what I wanted and what I didn't want and I can proudly say that I gave my all to find that out – so how could the pain ever be something I would regret?"

Matt hated being vulnerable. He hated talking about himself like this, but there was something about talking to Sylvie that made him feel so at peace and so secure. He figured that was what happened when you found the right person for you.

"And number three? How did you know you loved her?" Sylvie asked as she felt him smile against her head.

"Well number three kind of crept up on me with no warning…" he said as Sylvie held onto his arms and rested her cheek against his bicep "and I'm incredibly thankful that she did. I knew that I liked her about a year before I got my head out of my ass and told her. It was when we responded to some kids messing around with fireworks and I got this burn on my neck. It hurt like hell and I was just going to wash it out but she sat my stubborn ass down and made me promise to look after it. When she walked away from me I just stared after her and thought about how caring she was and how selfless she was and how she always looked out for the people she loved most in this world. I knew then that I was falling for her, even if I couldn't admit it." He said as Sylvie smiled at the memory. She had been so bossy and has basically yelled at him for not changing his bandage, and she was grateful that he remembered it in such a sweet way. "But the moment I knew that I loved her… I was dancing with her at a wedding and she said to me that if you find someone who makes love feel as easy as breathing then you've hit the jackpot. And as I held her, it felt like the easiest thing in the world." He said quietly into her ear. They were the only people in the room, but this was something he wanted only her to hear. "I knew then that I'd found the person I was meant to love to my last breath."

"I love you. More than I can put into words." She replied quietly. She wasn't sure there was a time she ever felt so very loved and she was eternally grateful for it.

"I love you too Sylvie Brett… _to my last breath."_


	25. The Game Plan

**Hi everyone! I have five new chapters lined up for this week, starting with today's that I hope you'll all enjoy!**

**For now - sometimes a game plan is necessary if you need your kids to do something right... enjoy!**

* * *

**The Game Plan**

* * *

"Ok, here are the ground rules. All you have to do is hold onto this with _both hands._ No pulling it from each other. You hold it and you walk in a straight line to where I'll be standing with Uncle Sev and Uncle Joe. You give it to _me_, then you go and sit with Uncle Wallace and Auntie Donna. There will be _no_ fighting, your clothes stay _on_ and at the end – you get a massive piece of cake. Do we have a deal?"

Three-year olds Jack and Elliot looked up at their dad with blank expressions as he talked them through their roles at ringbearers. It was the day of Severide and Kidd's wedding. They'd never been in much of a rush to get married, but they figured why not make that commitment now? It was a low-key deal, but they insisted on having Jack and Elliot as ringbearers and Sylvie was even _more_ insistent that that meant getting them all dressed up in little toddler tuxes.

Matt knew it sounded like he was talking through some sort of game plan with them, but to him, that's basically what it was. He needed to be clear with the boys on what they were to do otherwise god _knows_ what they'd pull. They weren't bad kids, but they were little boys. Little, energetic, _bold_ boys who loved to mess around with each other. They needn't look any further than the swing incident last week for proof. Jack decided to see if he could jump off the swing and land beside Elliot – instead, he managed to land _on top of_ Elliot leading to Elliot needing 8 stitches on the back of his head and Jack needing 5 on his knee and 3 on his elbow. They really didn't have much luck in parks. Then there was also the fact that they were going through a phase of stripping off their clothes whenever they had the chance. Sylvie suggested one afternoon that they just let them loose in the wild – they'd probably thrive.

"_Deal."_ Elliot and Jack repeated at the same time with a nod of certainty.

"Good" Matt said, nodding back at his boys. "Ok, tux inspection." He said as the boys stood up from the couch and straightened out their jackets like they'd seen Matt do before.

As Matt straightened their little bow ties, the door opened, and Sylvie appeared.

"Oh my gosh." She said as she put her hand over her heart. "Look at my babies, you look so handsome!"

Jack's eyes widened, "Momma, you look like an _angel_" he said in awe.

Matt looked Sylvie up and down. She was glowing in her pale blue bridesmaid dress. Her hair was curled, half of is pulled off her face and as usual, her most radiant feature was a smile.

"She sure does bud" Matt repeated as Sylvie looked at him and smiled, giving him a subtle wink. It had always been their silent way of communicating.

"And we're not _babies_ momma, we're _ring bearers_." Elliot added proudly.

Sylvie laughed, "You sure are. The best and most handsome pageboys in all of Chicago" she said as she ran her hands through the tips of their hair, making sure it was sitting perfectly. "Did daddy talk you through what you have to do?"

"Hold onto the pillow" Jack began, as he and his brother alternated recalling the instructions.

"With both hands"

"Walk in a straight line"

"Hand the pillow over"

"Sit with Uncle Wallace and Auntie Donna"

"No fighting"

"Clothes stay on"

"We get _cake!"_ Elliot finished excitedly.

"Wow, you could never tell that you're a fire captain" Sylvie teased Matt. He'd really drilled the rules into his littlest recruits.

"Funny…" Matt remarked as nudged her with his elbow.

"What kind of cake is it?" Jack asked curiously.

"Chocolate" Matt told them as their eyes narrowed.

"Hm… our favourite kind…" Elliot grumbled. "Come on Jack, we need to get this right." He said as Jack nodded furiously.

"And you will" Sylvie said as she squeezed their chins and stole a kiss from each of them.

Jack and Elliot ran out the door of their changing room to find the groomsmen room so they could tell their Uncle Severide that they were going to nail this ring bearer deal.

"They melt my heart." Sylvie said with a smile. "How could we manage to make two of the cutest little humans to ever walk the planet?" she gushed. She was totally bias, but the Casey boys were stupidly cute – even when they were being terrors.

"Well their mom is pretty cute so that probably helped." He said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "You look amazing."

"Thank you handsome, you don't clean up too badly either." She said with a smile. "Come on, let's get our boys down the aisle and our best friends married."

Sylvie tried to pull him away, but he stopped her and looked at his watch.

"We've got a few minutes…" he said with a lopsided, suggestive smirk before pulling her back in.

"You're not ruining this dress." She warned him as he pulled her flush against him.

"Then I'll have to be extra careful" he said deeply before kissing her hard and fast as he pulled her dress up around her waist...

* * *

"Where the hell have you two been?!" Severide demanded to know as Matt and Sylvie eventually emerged from their room, looking a little flustered as they desperately tried to fix themselves.

"Sylvie had a hole her dress" "Matt's zipper was stuck" they said at the same time as they looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Yeah. If zipper is a euphemism for _penis_ and hole is a euphemism for _vagina_." Severide said through his teeth.

"_Severide. Little ears."_ Sylvie replied through her teeth as Severide turned around and looked at the twins sitting behind them eyeing the adults in the room curiously. "I'm going to go make sure Stella is ready. I will see you at the altar" she said with a smile before disappeared.

Matt watched her leave before turning back to Severide who had his arms cross over his chest.

"I can't believe you had sex at my wedding." He said in disbelief.

"Yeah because you and Kidd totally didn't have sex at our wedding _and_ at the boys' christening." Matt challenged. They were stupidly late for the ceremony, which was made ten times worse by the fact they were _godparents_.

"… ok we're even." Severide conceded before turning around to the twins and bending down. "Ok twinnies – you ready?"

"We've got this Uncle Sev, don't worry." Jack assured him.

Severide smiled; "I know you do." He assured them before giving them a fist bump.

The boys rushed out the door to get in position while Severide held back and checked his appearance in the mirror. Matt put his hand on the door handle before turning back to his friend.

"You ready?" he asked.

Severide turned around and smirked, "Hell yeah."

* * *

The wedding went off without a hitch. The boys proudly walked down the aisle, steadily carrying the rings on the pillow and waved proudly at their dad at the end who gave them an even prouder smile and a wave. He didn't think it was possible for his heart to love those boys more than it did. He also didn't think it was possible to love his wife more than he did. As he watched her walk down the aisle he was instantly taken back to their wedding and the feeling he had when he saw her walking towards him. His heart had never felt so full.

Later that evening, Matt and Sylvie were swaying gently on the dancefloor with a few couples around them. The twins had passed out on the sofa in the corner of the room after one slice of cake – plus two extra slices that Ritter and Gallo gave them – caused a serious sugar rush with a dangerous come down. As soon as they passed out, Sylvie and Matt got them blankets and decided to use the quiet to enjoy the wedding together.

Matt was totally oblivious to the world around him. He was even oblivious to the song that was playing, all he could focus on was Sylvie singing the song softly in his ear and on holding her close to him.

_I'll never forget, the time we sort of stumbled  
But then we knew, that it takes two to tumble _

_The stars in your eyes, still there as before  
They show us the way, to work, love and pray  
As sweethearts in love  
The years have now passed, and our love still lasts  
Cause everyday, we know to say  
We're sweethearts in love_

The song ended and moved on to the next, but Matt and Sylvie stayed safely in each other's arms. Sylvie lifted her head and looked at her husband.

"You look proud."

Matt smiled, "I am proud. I'm proud that Severide finally settled down…" he joked as Sylvie giggled.

"Yeah, who would have thought your commitment-phobe best friend would make the biggest commitment of all?" she asked as they looked over at Severide and Kidd who were just an enamoured with each other as Matt and Sylvie were.

"I don't know – I think as soon as he met Kidd he was pretty much sunk."

Sylvie smiled and nodded, "I agree."

"I'm also proud that our boys made it down the aisle without fighting or removing their clothes…"

Sylvie closed her eyes and scrunched up her face before letting out a laugh that Matt copied. They really needed to teach the boys the value of clothing.

"They did good. They certainly earned that cake" Sylvie agreed.

"You were right earlier… it is kind of remarkable that we made them." He said as they looked over at their sleeping boys. "They were my dream. A dream I never thought I would have and I just – I look at them everyday and I am so grateful. Even when they're jumping off of swings and stripping naked…" he joked. "I am so grateful everyday for _you._ You're the dream it took me a long time to realise I had. Most days I don't think I deserve you."

Sylvie cupped his cheek and affectionately ran her thumb over it, "You deserve all your dreams Matt Casey and I'm grateful that I got to be one of them."

Matt closed the small gap between them and kissed her delicately.

"_Ugh. Gross. Elliot don't look."_ They heard a voice beside them say as they broke apart and turned their heads to see their boys staring at them with scrunched up faces.

"Well, look who's awake." Sylvie teased with a little laugh.

"It was a power nap momma, we're ready for the next stage of the party." Elliot told her with a wide smile.

"And more cake" Jack quickly added on to the end.

Matt and Sylvie simultaneously quirked an eyebrow. They were relentless on the cake.

"Come here" Sylvie said as she scooped Jack up and started dancing around the room with him while Elliot jumped up on Matt's shoulders and started to mess around with his parents and brother from an advantageous height. They would deal with any sugar hangovers tomorrow. For now, they would gladly spend whatever time together they could with the people they loved most.


	26. Cute Captain

**Cute Captain**

* * *

Matt and Sylvie walked towards the fire house; Matt's arm securely wrapped around his wife's waist. It was Sylvie's first day of light duty since she'd announced she was pregnant again to her 51 family. While light duty was something she wanted to do for her baby, she remembered she didn't particularly enjoy it when she was pregnant with the boys, so she wasn't in the best of moods today. She tried to be her normal, optimistic self – but it was falling flat most of the time.

"Foster better not like my replacement more than me…" she mumbled childishly to Matt who chuckled at her. Her replacement was due to start today and of course Sylvie would be as welcoming and accommodating as possible, but she was feeling a little jealous at the prospect of someone else riding with _her_ partner.

"Impossible." He assured her. "You'll still be around the firehouse to remind her of what she's got."

"I guess… I'm sorry, I don't mean to be such a downer I just love this job and of _course _I want to do what's best for the baby, but it doesn't make it any less difficult." Sylvie rambled.

"Hey" Matt said as she stopped walking just by the apparatus floor doors. He kissed the side of her head lingeringly and lovingly to try and comfort her. "I know it's weird and frustrating, but it will be entirely worth it. It was the last time."

Sylvie smiled; "I know." She assured him. She quickly kissed his cheek before moving away from his hold and walking into the firehouse ahead of him.

Just as she walked through the doors, Boden and an unfamiliar face came walking in his direction.

"Ah, just the person we were looking for. Sylvie Brett this is Grace Cruthers, your temporary replacement on 61." Boden introduced.

Sylvie turned to the woman and smiled, "It's nice to meet you Grace." They politely shook hands as Sylvie took her in. She was very pretty. Flowing dark hair, piercing green eyes, immaculately applied make-up. She was young and fresh blood and Sylvie had no doubt she would make a huge impact on the house – in more ways than one.

"You too! I'm excited to get started." She said enthusiastically.

"I have to make an important call to headquarters, Brett could you make sure she's introduced to everybody and made to feel welcome?"

Sylvie nodded her head, "Of course chief."

As Boden walked away Grace looked around her before taking a step forward. "I'm so glad to finally meet another girl, I can already tell there's a lot of testosterone around here" he said with a little giggled.

Sylvie smiled, "You get used to it." She assured her. Sylvie was convinced that being in this house was the best thing she could have asked for in preparation for parenting two little risk takers of her own.

Grace smirked, "Oh I am _already_ liking the view…" she confessed as Sylvie looked at her with wide eyes. "I've been in a few firehouses since I started in this job, but I didn't realise this one had so many _hunks_. I could _certainly_ get used to this…" she said as she looked over Sylvie's shoulder just as Casey walked through the door and began talking to Hermann. "Who is that?"

"Hermann?" Sylvie asked as she looked over her shoulder.

"No, the blonde…" Grace said as she eyed Casey like he was a piece of meat.

"That's Matt Casey, he's the Captain here." Sylvie informed her slowly, eyeing her up and wondering what her game was.

Grace quirked an eyebrow, "_That's_ Captain Casey? Well – I heard he was cute, but I didn't realise he was _that _cute."

Sylvie awkwardly laughed; "Yeah, I guess he's ok…" she said with a little shrug. He was _more_ than ok in her mind, obviously. He was the sexiest man she knew, but she wasn't about to run her mouth about her husband to the newbie. Besides, she kinda wanted to see how far Grace would take this one…

"Just ok?! I wouldn't be surprised if you'd jumped his bones by now." She said with a laugh as Sylvie's eyes widened again. "Anyway, I guess I better go introduce myself" she said with an eyebrow wiggle as she strutted forward.

Sylvie clenched her jaw and held back for a second. While Grace's forwardness was frustrating – a little part of her also couldn't wait to see how awkward Matt got by what she didn't doubt would be a very forward introduction.

"Captain Casey"

"Yeah" Casey said as he turned from Herman towards Grace, seeing Sylvie walk towards them out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm Grace Cruthers, the new paramedic"

"Ah, Brett's replacement. It's nice to meet you, welcome to 51" he said as they shook hands.

"I just wanted to introduce myself and say that I'm really excited to be working with you all. I've heard nothing but good things." She said before flashing him a beaming smile.

Sylvie rolled her eyes – and Matt noticed. He gave her a temporarily distracted funny look before turning back to Grace. "Well I hope you'll be made to feel right at home." He told her politely.

"Oh. I don't doubt I will" she said with a suggestive smirk before sauntering away. Sylvie watched her as she walked away, while Matt kept his eyes dead set on Sylvie.

"You ok?" he asked cautiously.

"Haven't even made it to my locker today and somebody's hitting on my baby daddy." Sylvie grumbled.

Matt smirked and quirked an eyebrow; "_Wow_, is that all I am to you? A _sperm donor_?" he joked as they turned and walked in the direction of the lockers. "And who was hitting on me?"

"The new paramedic."

"What? She was just being friendly—"

Sylvie turned and looked at him, "she told me before she went over to you that you were super cute and she wouldn't be surprised if I'd jumped your bones by now."

"Well… you _have_ jumped my bones. You jumped my bones _this morning_—" he began before Sylvie glared at him. He held his hands up in surrender. "She's harmless babe."

Sylvie nodded her head, "Oh I know. I'm just kind of in intrigued as to how far she's going to take it…"

"… what are you planning?"

"I'm not planning anything." Sylvie said with a shrug. "I'm just not going to tell her I _regularly_ jump your bones and she what happens." She said with a tight lipped smile before patting his chest before walking on.

Matt smirked, "This is going to be interesting."

"I think it's so awesome that you're having a baby as a PIC." Grace told Sylvie later that say as they sat in the bunk room. "I mean – being a mom and having this job is going to be _tough."_

Sylvie smiled, "Yeah, this is my third baby, so I know_ all about_ tough" she told them.

"Three kids? _Wow._ You must be superwoman." Grace said with a little laugh. "What does your husband do? Apologies if I'm assuming, I just saw your wedding rings…"

"Oh, it's fine" Sylvie assured her. "He's a firefighter." She said vaguely.

"Oh, how cool!" Grace said again. Sylvie couldn't fault her for her enthusiasm and interest in the people around her. "What house is he at?"

Before Sylvie could answer, the bunk room door opened and Casey and Severide appeared with two white boxes.

"Ladies. A special treat on Boden's orders" Severide said as he opened the box to reveal a whole selection of donuts.

Sylvie eyes widened, "Oh my god I have been craving one of these all morning!" she exclaimed. "Did you do this?" she asked Matt with narrowed eyes. She was fairly convinced that Matt had been the one to convince Boden that this donut fix was needed.

Matt smirked, "I thought you could use a little pick me up." He told her as he opened his box. "Your favourite flavour is in this one."

"You are a real-life superhero." Sylvie teased. "Not because you save the city from engulfing flames, but because you provide for this house. You provide the essentials for _survival_."

Matt chuckled, "Glad I can be of assistance… Grace, you seemed like a chocolate girl."

"Good guess captain" she said as she took the donut from him. "You are very tuned in to the _needs_ of this house…" she said as she eyed him up and down. "Not many Captains can say that." She bit into her donut slowly and deliberately seductively as Severide looked between Matt and Sylvie, completely confused. "I'm going to get a napkin" Grace announced before leaving the bunk room.

Once the door had closed Severide let out a laugh, "What the hell was that?!"

"Sylvie thinks Cruthers has a thing for me."

"Well you are the cutest Captain in all of Chicago" Severide teased as Matt shoved him. "Doesn't she know about you two?"

"Sylvie's testing her."

"I am not _testing_ her" Sylvie told them as she stood up. "I'm just having a little bit of fun… God knows I need it from being stuck around here all day." She grumbled.

"And it's that positive spirit that's going to get you through it." Severide said sarcastically as Sylvie glared. "Good luck!" he called before walking out of the bunk room to deliver the rest of the donuts.

"So… apparently I'm very tuned in to the needs of this house…" Casey said as he walked towards her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"So I hear… but I already knew that. You're very tuned in to what people need…" she said as their lips hovered dangerously close to one another's. "In more ways than one."

Matt gulped, "I have ten minutes before I need to meet with Boden—"

"_Done."_ Sylvie said as she pulled him towards his quarters.

**  
That evening, Sylvie made her way out onto the apparatus floor, just as everyone came back from a call. She watched as Casey jumped out of the truck, looking a little bit rugged from whatever they were attending to. Her attention soon turned to Foster and Cruthers. Foster came walking towards her with a frustrated look on her face.

"Did you know the newbie has the hots for Casey?" she asked Sylvie.

Sylvie laughed and put her hands in her pockets. "Oh, I know."

"Fair warning, she'll probably come over here and tell you all about how sexy it was to see them all in action, but _especially_ Casey. She _loves _a man in charge." Foster mocked before walking away as Sylvie bit her lip to stop her from laughing.

"Hey Brett!" Grace greeted. "God, what an _insane_ call!"

"Yeah, aren't they so good at what they do? _Especially_ Casey." Sylvie teased as they turned to look at him while he took off his gear.

Grace smirked, "Tell me about it. He's just so _manly_…"

"Momma!" Sylvie heard from the doors as she turned and saw Elliot and Jack running towards her.

"Hi babies!" she greeted as she bent down and hugged and kissed them both. "What are you two doing here?" she asked before looking up at their nanny, Joanna.

"We were passing the house and they wanted to come say hi" Joanna explained with a little laugh.

"Well I am certainly glad you did" she said with a wink. "Daddy is going to be so glad to see you two!"

"Daddy? Your husband works _here_?" Grace asked.

Sylvie smiled and nodded her head, "Yeah."

The other firefighters soon spotted the littlest Caseys and erupted in hellos before coming over and giving them high fives, fist bumps and hair ruffles which they gladly accepted. They loved feeling like part of the team.

"Hey little Caseys" Matt greeted happily as he bent down and scooped his boys up, hugging them tightly and giving them kisses.

Grace's eyes widened. _Little Caseys?_ Sylvie's kids were the Captain's kids?

"Dad you're covered in dirt!" Jack said as he wiped a little hand down Matt's face, causing him to scrunch his nose to protect his eyes from Jacks' harsher than intended rubbing.

"That's cause we were just out on a call." Matt told them.

Sylvie walked towards them, "And now_ your_ hand is all covered in dirt…" she said as she reached for a towel and wiped Jack's hand.

"You- you're married?" Grace asked as she pointed between the two of them.

Sylvie and Matt looked up at her; "Yeah" they replied at the same time.

Grace stood there a little shocked for a moment before smiling, putting her hands on her hips and letting out a little laugh; "I should have guessed. He's been looking at you with doe eyes all day." She said as everything started to click into place. "I know you couldn't possibly have resisted jumping his bones…" she teased with a wink as Sylvie let out a laugh.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Sylvie apologised as she took a step towards Grace while the boys began chatting animatedly to Matt.

"I'm sorry I made it seem like I was going to jump him." Grace apologised. "Does he get this often? Also – _you_ must get this often too. Seriously, you both look like _dolls_…" she told them.

Sylvie let out a laugh, "This is a first" She said before she gazed up at Matt while he listened to Jack and Elliot tell him about their day. The boys were basically talking over the top of one another as they tried to explain their new game to Matt and it was virtually incoherent, but even after a difficult and tiring call, his enthusiasm and interest levels didn't look like they were about to dip at all. He just loved his boys_ so_ much and he would happily listen to them talk nonsense all day.

"But I get it—" Sylvie said with a little smile; "he definitely is one cute Captain."


End file.
